This guide assumes only that you know how to program in the C language and that you have some background in mathematics (geometry, trigonometry, linear algebra, calculus, and differential geometry). Even if you have little or no experience with computer-graphics technology, you should be able to follow most of the discussions in How to Obtain the Sample Code xxi this book. Of course, computer graphics is a huge subject, so you may want to enrich your learning experience with supplemental reading.
- Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice by James D. Foley, Andries van Dam, Steven K. Feiner, and John F. Hughes (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1990)—This book is an encyclopedic treatment of the subject of computer graphics. It includes a wealth of information but is probably best read after you have some experience with the subject.
- 3D Computer Graphics: A User’s Guide for Artists and Designers by Andrew S. Glassner (New York: Design Press, 1989)—This book is a nontechnical, gentle introduction to computer graphics. It focuses on the visual effects that can be achieved rather than on the techniques needed to achieve them.
Once you begin programming with OpenGL, you might want to obtain the OpenGL Reference Manual by the OpenGL Architecture Review Board (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Developers Press, 1996), which is designed as a companion volume to this guide. The Reference Manual provides a technical view of how OpenGL operates on data that describes a geometric object or an image to produce an image on the screen. It also contains full descriptions of each set of related OpenGL commands—the parameters used by the commands, the default values for those parameters, and what the commands accomplish. Many OpenGL implementations have this same material on-line, in the form of man pages or other help documents, and it’s probably more up-to-date. There is also a http version on the World Wide Web; consult Silicon Graphics OpenGL Web Site (http://www.sgi.com/Technology/openGL) for the latest pointer. OpenGL is really a hardware-independent specification of a programming interface, and you use a particular implementation of it on a particular kind of hardware.
This guide explains how to program with any OpenGL implementation. However, since implementations may vary slightly—in performance and in providing additional, optional features, for example—you might want to investigate whether supplementary documentation is available for the particular implementation you’re using. In addition, you might have OpenGL-related utilities, toolkits, programming and debugging support, widgets, sample programs, and demos available to you with your system.