Starting Off with Opengl

OpenGL OpenGL: Basic Coding
1

hi guys ,
I will be just starting off with opengl soon,
but i am not very good at c++ , and i know the
basics of win 32 programming.
So you guys think i should still work on c++
and strenghten my base or directly dive into
Opengl ?? Or do i need to learn Vc++ before getting into opengl.

Well these are very basic questions and i am just
a beginner , so hope you guys help me out.

Thanks

2

What do you mean with “I am not very good with c++” ? What can you do ? What can’t you do ? It all depends. I’d like to say if you can make programs that doesn’t crash and that have no memory leaks, it’s a good sign.
But it also depends on what you want to do with gl. If you want to make the latest modeler with raytracing and radiosity, I’d like to say, wait a bit, learn more about C++, programming, computer graphics and so on.
But again, this is not easy to answer. Some might become best with practice, so maybe going down to gl is not a so bad idea.

Hope that helps.

3

For just the plain basics, a minimum knowledge of Win32 and C is sufficient (though not needed).

If you want to things in a more efficient way, it’s advisable that you have a firm understanding of C-style arrays (and pointers).

A little string processing and not being afraid of using function pointers comes in handy if you’re using OpenGL extensions – which you’ll sooner or later want, I’m sure --, but you can have these tasks handled by an extension loading library such as glew (or one of the many more that exist).

For starting out, try NeHe's tutorials . There’s native Win32 code there, so you can dive straight in.

4

Thanks for the prompt reply jide & zeckensack ,

well i only have knowledge restricted to what
a primer in c++ would provide.There are some topics
which i find hard to work around like templates &
function pointers . Is this basic information
enough , or do i need to hit a advanced book like
stroustrup ?

I will check out Nehe :slight_smile:

5

For OpenGL itself you only need basic C knowledge, mainly about arrays/pointers.

6

I use glut to do my graphics and only c++ for when I am manipulating variables. You probably don’t need to know much C++ to opengl. You could probably go straight to OpenGL if you want. I have some basic tutorials at my site http://programminghq.tk/

7

wow , thanks for the replys , i guess i ll devote , some more time to c++ before i dive into ogl .
Thanks.

8

Where is you ACTUALLY question ?