Instant GLEW

Learn how to effortlessly deploy OpenGL Extensions in your programs using GLEW

Overview

• Learn something new in an Instant! A short, fast, focused guide delivering immediate results
• Learn about the usages of GLEW and how to use OpenGL extensions in your programs
• Learn about the functionalities of GLEW
• Discover utilities to use OpenGL extensions

In Detail

3D graphics hardware is evolving quickly and expanding across devices ranging from smartphones to tablets to computers. OpenGL Extensions help vendors to expose the cutting-edge features of their hardware to developers in a usable manner. However, the mix of different hardware and operating system versions can make the use of these extensions quite difficult. The solution to this is the OpenGL Extension Wrangler (GLEW) library.

"Instant GLEW" is a quick guide to learn how to install GLEW on Windows and how to use it in your OpenGL programs. You will learn how to use any OpenGL Extension you want in your program in a safe and portable manner.

"Instant GLEW" explains how OpenGL Extensions are used to expose cutting-edge features through the OpenGL API. You will learn how to install GLEW on Windows and configure your OpenGL program to build with it. The book starts with an introduction to GLEW and details the benefits of its usage in OpenGL programs.

Later, the book guides you through configuring Visual Studio or a Linux compile environment for using GLEW. This book comprises of short codes that illustrate simple common extensions. You will also find out about alternatives to GLEW and how to use extensions without GLEW.

What you will learn from this book

• Learn how to install GLEW on Windows and build your programs to use it
• Learn how to employ OpenGL extensions in your program
• Explore all the functions and capabilities of GLEW
• Learn about applications that make use of OpenGL extensions interesting

Approach

Get to grips with a new technology, understand what it is and what it can do for you, and then get to work with the most important features and tasks. A starter guide that walks you through the GLEW library and its utilities.

Who this book is written for

"Instant GLEW" is a guide for students learning OpenGL programming and is also useful for graphics and game developers who want to use GLEW to write portable and feature-filled OpenGL applications and games. Experience with any programming language (C, Java, Lisp, Javascript, and so on) is better to fully understand the code, but is not necessary.