Skills Transfer: DirectX - > OpenGL

[ewan_s]

Hi,

I little of topic I know but hopefully someone can give some feedback.

I'm thinking if hiring a guy to do some OpenGL work for my company. He has not worked with OpenGL for about 2 years because his then employer switched to using DirectX. So I'm trying to get a feel for how transferable skills are between DirectX and OpenGL (I'm not interested in which API users think is better because I'm committed to OpenGL for now). I know OpenGl myself but have no exposure to DirectX. Obviously a lot of this will be down to the individual but if anyone can share there experience that would be great.

Thanks in advance
Ewan

[Leyder Dylan]

Hi,

The OpenGL syntax is not the same than the DirectX syntax.

The 3D basis are the same even if you work with DX or OGL.

It's always the same problem and only the syntax is different.

[Deiussum]

I haven't looked at Direct3D 9 yet, but in my years of working with DirectX, each revision seems to get closer and closer to looking like OpenGL. I guess Microsoft must have decided that OpenGL did something right... http://www.opengl.org/discussion_boards/ubb/smile.gif

But like Leyder said, the basic APIs are different, but the same concepts apply to both. Once you learn one well, it's easy to figure out the differences and pick up the other.

[marcus256]

Although I have not done any own D3D coding, I have followed a few tutorials etc, and from what I gather the main differences are in the API and resource management. I think that going from D3D to OGL should be easier than the other way around, because OGL does alot of things for you that D3D does not.

In the end, I think that what really matters is what kind of tasks your potential emplyee will be working with. Windowing & rendering contexts? Structuring the graphical engine? Dealing with geometrical problems? etc. etc. Some fields are more sensitive to which API you use than others. FYI I recently got hired as an "OpenGL coder" myself, but I find that I have been dealing much more with learning and working with various details of the application (a CAD program) than doing actual OpenGL coding.