Using OpenGL and Sample Program
There are a number of different platforms/languages on which you can do
your development. I would encourage you to use the following ones:
- C or C++ on WAM/Glue Sun Workstations: These are slow, but
reliable.
- C or C++ on the CSIC Linux Machines: These are much faster. We have
not done much testing here yet, so use with some caution.
- Visual C++ on PC's in the WAM lab in the first floor of AVW.
(These provide fast graphics, but there are only three of them.)
Visual Studio.NET is also an option. However, it runs quite slowly
on the PC's in the WAM lab.
- Your own laptop or desktop: This is fine for development, but be
sure you can port your program to one of the above systems for the
purposes of grading.
Right now we are experimenting with OpenGL in Java (through JOGL and AWT).
We hope to move to Java in future versions of CMSC 427, so we are
encouraging a few brave people to try this. (We will give you extra
credit on assignments for getting OpenGL to work in Java, but you must
assume a greater responsibility in getting things set up and dealing
with problems. Please let us know what problems you encountered and how
you overcame them, since this will be valuable for us to know.)
This directory contains a small sample OpenGL program along with a
number of Makefiles for various systems. The entire bundle can be
downloaded. Hold down the shift key and left click
here to download the bundle (updated
Feb 6). Here is what it contains:
- C/C++ Section:
-
- The C++ source code sample1.cpp for the
sample program.
- Readme files for the various platforms:
- ReadmeFirst.txt:
General information regarding OpenGL and the possible
systems you can use.
- ReadmeForUnix.txt:
Information for OpenGL on WAM and Glue labs and the CSIC
Linux cluster.
- ReadmeForWindows.txt:
Information for OpenGL on PC's running Microsoft Windows.
- Makefiles for the various platforms:
- The directory VisualCPP contains, the file
ReadmeForVisualC++.txt,
which contains information on how to install OpenGL, Glu, and
GLUT on a PC and how to create a console application that uses
OpenGL and GLUT for Microsoft Visual C++ It also contains
workspace and project files for compiling the sample problem.
- The directory VisualStudioNET contains, the file
ReadmeForVisualStudio.NET.txt,
which contains analogous information for Microsoft Visual
Studio.NET.
- Java Section:
-
The Java section contains two demo programs for JOGL (which we
downloaded from other JOGL pages),
Gears and
JOGL2DBasics. So far,
our experience with Java and JOGL is limited, so we are interested
in hearing about how your experience goes.
- For basic information on how to run these demo programs on
the CSIC Linux Lab machines, and other information about JOGL
please see
ReadmeForJava.txt,
- There are also Makefiles for the two demos on the Linux Lab
machines. Note that before running the Makefiles, you must
set your CLASSPATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variables.
Please consult the file
ReadmeForJava.txt,
mentioned above for information on how to do this.
The following article is a good source of information on how to
download and install JOGL on your own machine:
Jumping
into JOGL.
Please report any errors or send comments to
Dave Mount
Return to
CMSC 427 Web Page.
Last updated: Fri, Feb 6, 2004.
