Introduction

Welcome to one of my first tutorials ever, OpenGL Made Easy.
I wanna mention this: nowadays our attention span is pretty low. We can blame this on many reasons, like phones, TikTok, and more.
On the other hand, there are brilliant kids who like to learn advanced things like this but get lost in heavy tutorials.

Shortly, this tutorial is for you if you don't wanna waste much time, or you want simpler explanations.

In this tutorial, I'll not only explain OpenGL but also try to give you a specific perspective on how things actually work!

Requirements

Since we'll work with a specific language (C++) and some basic knowledge, you'll need to meet these:

• Beginner-level C++
• Know how languages like C or C++ manage memory dynamically. It's actually simple; C is recommended.

Some Info

If a text has a red background, you can hover it!

What's OpenGL?

If this is your first time hearing about OpenGL: OpenGL is not a library!

It's actually an
API, which serves as the bridge between your program and GPU.

In this tutorial, I'll also show you how to use GLAD. OpenGL by itself won't load the functions you need — GLAD will do that.

Another thing: because OpenGL isn't a typical library, it can be tricky at first to control the GPU.
Example: To draw a single triangle (which we'll do later), we first have to call a function just to say we want to send data, before actually sending it.

That was super confusing for me at first. OpenGL is really
low-level, but that's also why it's insanely powerful for optimization.

Small Q&A

1. Can I use C instead of C++?

   • C++ has extra features like OOP, which help a lot because video games have tons of objects.
   • OpenGL supports C too, but I think there's no reason to limit yourself.

2. Why OpenGL?

   • OpenGL is perfect (in my opinion) for small teams or learning game development. It has huge community support.
   • The alternative is Vulkan, which is even lower-level — you control everything manually.

Basic Setup

Everyone has their favorite IDE.
In most C++ projects, you'll see Visual Studio being used.

Personally, I prefer simpler and lighter options like Visual Studio Code.
Since setup is different for each IDE, I'll just give you the links to what you need.

In this tutorial, I'll use Visual Studio Code. But again, it's your choice — the only difference will be in compiling.

Here are some tutorials for setting up GLFW and GLAD:

1. C++ OpenGL setup for VSCode in 2min by Codeus
2. Setting up OpenGL and Creating a Window in C++ by The Cherno

Libraries:

1. GLFW: Our main helper library.

   A library? Well, yeah, sort of.
   GLFW helps you with annoying stuff while using OpenGL — like creating windows and handling input.

   So we can say that it's actually a helper library.

   Without GLFW, you'd have to use WinAPI (the core of Windows apps and games).

2. GLAD: The tool that loads OpenGL functions for us.

OpenGL is just an API. It's already on your computer (as long as you have GPU drivers).
If you go to the OpenGL website and click download, it just redirects you to your GPU brand's website.

Also:
You have OpenGL installed, but you don't have the functions directly usable.
GLAD loads those functions so you can just call them easily.

Without GLAD:

PFNGLGENBUFFERSPROC glGenBuffers = (PFNGLGENBUFFERSPROC)wglGetProcAddress("glGenBuffers");
glGenBuffers(1, &vbo);

With GLAD:

glGenBuffers(1, &VBO);
// Don't worry about the parameters. Just know the functions are pre-defined!

End of This Tutorial

In the next tutorial, we'll create a simple window. Feel free to ask me questions — on Discord, by email, or in a comment below! (If I added that feature yet 😁)