Welcome to the fourth edition of the OpenGL SuperBible. For more than ten years, we have<br>striven to provide the world’s best introduction to not only OpenGL, but 3D graphics<br>programming in general. This book is both a comprehensive reference of the entire<br>OpenGL API and a tutorial that will teach you how to use this powerful API to create stunning<br>3D visualizations, games, and other graphics of all kinds. Starting with basic 3D<br>terminology and concepts, we take you through basic primitive assembly, transformations,<br>lighting, texturing, and eventually bring you into the full power of the programmable<br>graphics pipeline with the OpenGL Shading Language.<br>Regardless of whether you are programming on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, or a handheld<br>gaming device, this book is a great place to start learning OpenGL, and how to make<br>the most of it on your specific platform. The majority of the book is highly portable C++<br>code hosted by the GLUT or FreeGLUT toolkit. You will also find OS-specific chapters that<br>show how to wire OpenGL into your native window systems. Throughout the book, we<br>try to make few assumptions about how much previous knowledge the reader has of 3D<br>graphics programming topics. This yields a tutorial that is accessible by both the beginning<br>programmer and the experienced programmer beginning OpenGL.
