OpenGL SuperBible: Comprehensive Tutorial and Reference

If you are looking to learn OpenGL on Windows, then this is the book for you. Each chapter gives an excellent description of the concepts learned. The authors writing is clear and concise. The book uses GLUT for most of the programs. This is great as you can spend the time learning on program in 3d as oppossed to OS specific code. GLUT takes about 10 minutes to learn(Window,keyboard,and mouse functions), but you can do A LOT with it. You can make lots of small games and demos with it. Once the code works, remove GLUT and use your OS code.This is a book on programming 3d graphics. You most likely wont understand it if you've never gone past algebra in school. This is not the authors fault. You need to be able to understand some trig and linear algebra. If your math education is somewhat lacking, you should be able to understand it. He explains it a lot better than most math teachers do. Overall, I highly recommend this book. The examples are somewhat boring, but this is not a game programming book. It is a graphics book. You should have no problem taking what you learn and apply it to a game. If you are looking for an OpenGL Game Programming book, then buy the book with same title from the guys at Gamedev.net. It's very good.

It's hard not to write a review of an OpenGL book without comparing it to the Red Book, so I'll go ahead and do just that. Overall, I think the Superbible is every bit as useful as the Red Book, but in different ways. Although the Red Book has more detailed coverage, the Superbible focuses more on the practical side, covering the things you'll use and how you'll use them. Where the Red Book remains entirely platform-independent, the Superbible has quite a bit of Windows specific information, which is good since that's what a lot of us use. Finally, while the Red Book provides fairly generic OpenGL coverage, the Superbible is geared more toward real-time applications and games, which makes it a bit more appealing to folks like me. One really nice thing about this book is that it assumes no previous graphics programming experience (unlike the Red Book). It's also written in a more conversational tone. Those two factors combined probably make it a better book for beginners. If your objective is to make games, and you want to use OpenGL for them, then, at the time of writing, this is really the only book available on OpenGL containing any significant amount of game-specific material (though I *cough* have it on good authority that an OpenGL game programming book is on the horizon...) To sum up, I think that the Superbible's OpenGL coverage is quite good, it's extremely well written, and the code examples are both illustrative and useful. If you choose it as your means of learning OpenGL, you won't be disappointed.

I bought the book as an amerature to the OpenGL API. This book helped me to learn OpenGL as well as integrate it with Windows 32 bit applications. The book was very simple to use. The CD that comes with it is very helpful for looking at example code. This book is worth getting if you are serious about writing graphics programs in Windows.

I have just received my copy of the OpenGL Superbible and it is fantastic! To think I almost did not purchase this book based on some of the readers comments on this selection! The included WaiteGL.OCX file is worth the price of the book alone! If you are worth your salt as a programmer and want a quick entre' into the fabulous world of graphics programming I whole heartedly endorse this book! Thank you Richard Wright and Mike Sweet!

As a relative newcomer to the field of 3d graphics programming, I was naturally concerned about finding an introductory text which would provide a complete introduction to OpenGL. My experience teaching myself "C" (admittedly some time ago) has instilled in me a sort of paranoia about supposedly "introductory" texts assuming unreasonable levels of knowledge on the part of the reader. The OpenGL Superbible turned out to be a very pleasent suprise, however. Beginning with a concise explanation of basic 3d theories, it then moves directly into the practical side of 3d programming, reinforcing with constant examples, and never outdistancing the reader. The only knowledge assumptions which are made are with regard to basic Win32 windows management (and of course C/C++ programming experience), leaving nothing else to chance. The included CD contains sourcecode (with both Borland and Microsoft versions, where appropriate) as well as the necissary DLLs to get started right away. I highly recommend this book to anyone new to OpenGL, it will provide you with an enjoyable and thorough preparation for solving complex problems with OpenGL.