

Ask HN: Is OpenGL Worth Learning? - solidgriever

With Vulcan the next API to replace OpenGL... is it safe to assume that anyone that wanted to learn it is better off waiting for Vulcan?
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davismwfl
Yes. If you want to learn I'd still pick up OpenGL for now. The reason is
conceptually you still need to master that level of development one. Two
vulkan will not be ready for actual production use likely for maybe 12-18
months if I understand where it sits today. The marketing site for it says
initial specs expected this year. Plus it was just really announced in March.
So OpenGL isn't going away anytime soon, and even the way vulkan seems
positioned so far, it isn't so much a replacement to OpenGL as it appears to
be a Lower level framework.

Edit for clarity

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solidgriever
thx for the reply.i grandstander that if one learns a graphics API, it is easy
to adapt to another,and OpenGL has NOW all the textbooks and experts online an
tutorials... and Vulcan will not have even after an implementation comes out.
BUT the time investment to learn OpenGL is huge.. and i don't understand if
Vulcan will eventually replace OpenGL or they will coexist; or if Vulcan is
more streamlined easier to learn more flexible. If the answer is that the
industry will shift to Vulvan because OpenGL will be phased out, then it's
maybe better to wait. i just don't want to sink a lot of time in condemned
tech.

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RogerL
What is your goal? It is hard to suggest what you should do if we don't know
your goals.

To do 3D programming you need to understand a lot of stuff - the math,
shaders, how the GPU works, etc. All of that is invariant - you will need to
know that stuff regardless of what API you choose because you are programming
a GPU at a fairly low level. Of course, the details will change (GLSL shader,
or something else) depending on the API.

But you will not, for example, get a job using Vulkan if you have been sitting
idly not learning this stuff, waiting for Vulkan because your competition will
have been programming in OpenGL for years already. You can write a game, make
a product, now in OpenGL (or DirectX). Is your goal 3d programming, and you
just want to know the best API to start with, or is this "OpenGL, or maybe
Hadoop, or maybe machine learning" type of question with no specific goal in
mind.

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solidgriever
My goal is to learn a lot of stuff in game development gameplay/audio/ai
programming. I don't want to be an engine programmer or a rendering
specialist, but I want to know how to do it if someday i will have to (help)
code one. Graphics API are hard, so i wanted some opinions from those who know
OpenGL and what was known as OpenGL-Next. I understand what you say: learn
OpenGL now , it't here, you can work with it and if something better comes up
learn the things that are new, but i want to optimise my time and avoid
frustration. I can learn more about AI/audio etc in the meantime if that means
that i will learn a more modern, powerful, logical API later.

