starting programming using OpenGL

[manish411]

I want to start progrmming in opengl. I am using Ubuntu. do I need just to install a GLUT package.if yes how to do it

[GNU-Fan]

That depends on whether your learning material uses GLUT.

[manish411]

yes it uses GLUT what do I do next?

[lemons]

Install the packages 'freeglut' and 'freeglut-devel' using apt-get (I think!).

EDIT: also, as some food for thought, if you're thinking of using C++ with GLUT, don't. It isn't possible (or is very difficult to do, possibly using generics) to register callbacks that GLUT uses which belong to C++ namespaces/classes, for example:

...

class Bob
{
   void doStuff()
   {
      cout << "Doing stuff" << endl;
   }
}

...

int main()
{
   // GLUT init functions here
   glutIdleFunc(Bob::doStuff);
}

(Hope that code is correct!) Unfortunately it just wont work.

[manish411]

thanks for the support . But what is the difference between glut,glu,glx??????

[GNU-Fan]

GLX is the low-level interface from OpenGL to XWindow. When you wish to display OpenGL graphics on UNIX or GNU/Linux, this library is always necessary. But you don't have to work with it directly but can use a wrapper (convenience) library instead.

GLU is a convenience library which contains some useful helper functions that you usually wish to use.

GLUT wraps most of the set-up stuff in a very small number of functions. This allows newbies to play around with OpenGL without being concerned about distracting details. You usually stop using it soon after the starting phase because it is very inflexible.