| OpenGL
is the premier environment for developing portable, interactive 2D and 3D
graphics applications. A low-level, vendor neutral software interface, OpenGL
has been called the "Assembler Language" of computer graphics.
In addition to providing enormous flexibility and functionality, OpenGL
applications enjoy the broadest platform accessibility in the industry.
An excellent resource for information on OpenGL is located here. |
|
|
GLUT (rhymes with gluttony), is the OpenGL Utility Toolkit for developing OpenGL applications. GLUT implements a simple, window system independent, portable API that allows application development utilizing graphical components that run on both Win32 PCs and X11 workstations. GLUT is
well-suited for use in learning and exploring the capabilities
of OpenGL. However, it is not a full featured toolkit and
is best used for development of small to medium sized OpenGL
applications. Larger programs requiring sophisticated user
interfaces are better served by using native windowing system
toolkits (Win32/Motif). Information on GLUT is can be found
at: http://www.opengl.org/documentation/index.html
. |
| Mesa
is an 3D graphics library that uses the OpenGL API. Originally
designed for Unix/X11 systems, it now also runs on Linux, the
Macintosh, and Windows 95/98/NT. Mesa is distributed under the
terms of the GNU Library General Public License. Information
on Mesa availability and implementation details can be found
at: http://www.mesa3d.org/
. |
| f90gl
is a public domain implementation of the official Fortran 90 bindings for
OpenGL. 1.1.1 is the current version. It implements the interface for OpenGL
1.1, GLU 1.2, GLUT 3.6, several extensions, and supports several Unix
workstations and Windows
95/NT. It is also the Fortran interface for Mesa. The Fortran 90 bindings
for OpenGL are an alternative to the older FORTRAN 77 bindings. By using
the new features of Fortran 90, they define an interface to OpenGL that
does not depend on any extensions to the Fortran standard and provide access
to the full functionality of OpenGL. This provides the capability of robust,
standard-conforming, portable user application codes, and increases the
similarity between the Fortran and C interfaces to OpenGL. The Fortran 90
bindings were favorably
reviewed by J3, the US Fortran Standards Committee, and officially adopted
by the OpenGL Architecture Review Board in February 1998. |
 |