Learning OpenGL through Java.

Question

I'm interested in learning OpenGL and my favorite language at the time is Java. Can I reap its full (or most) benefits using things like JOGL or should I instead focus on getting stronger C++ skills?

Btw, which is your Java OpenGL wrapper library of choice and why?

Answer 1

JOGL is a wrapper library that allows OpenGL to be used in the Java programming language. It is currently the reference implementation for JSR-231 (Java Bindings for OpenGL) so it should be your first choice

Answer 2

Do it in C++, the bits you'll be using will basically be the same, because there won't be much messing about with pointers, so it's not a major leap of intuition. Also, the C++ bindings are more reliable and (in my experience) the fastest out of all the langauges available (Python in particular REALLY can't do OpenGL).

Also, C++ is always a good thing to learn, it makes you think about programming concepts in much more detail, as opposed to just popping in an ArrayList<> or whatever pre-built class kind-of-serves your purposes =]

Answer 3

If you are also interested in just doing 3D stuff in Java without worrying about all that low-level stuff, check out Java3D.

Worst case, you can look at how they leverage OpenGL for some good learning material.

Answer 4

if you really want to get serious at 3d programming you have to learn C/C++, C++ is the standard for programming 3d games

Answer 5

I have done some basic OpenGL development in Delphi and Java as well. I used JOGL, as mentioned in others' replies, and I must conclude that although there is very little difference in programming OpenGL in Java using JOGL and programming OpenGL in other languages (Delphi, C++, etc...) it just doesn't feel right. It was driving me crazy to set it all up correctly and then writing stuff like

gl.glBegin (GL.GL_QUADS)

there seems to be a lot of superfuous gl, GL, GLU to be written and it just gets in your way. Also the performance would be, I believe, much better if you used C++ or similar, NOT Java.

I am not saying hands off JOGL (Java+OpenGL), it can be done, and it really isn't too different, but... as I said. Give c++ a try, if you can.