Part I. The Old Testament

The first 14 chapters of this “Super Book” (Bible is from the Greek word for book) are about the beginnings of hardware-accelerated 3D graphics. Today, we refer to this body of functionality as fixed-pipeline rendering. Although it is certainly true that most of the recent press and excitement in the 3D graphics world revolves around the New Testament of computer graphics, shaders, the historical fixed-pipeline functionality of OpenGL is still quite pertinent, and useful.

For many, the fixed pipeline is completely adequate for their rendering needs, and they will find this part of the book instructive, and helpful for learning to use OpenGL. The true promise of hardware rendering for many, however, will be held in the second part of this book. Still, for those, the fixed pipeline is the foundation on which shaders are built. An understanding of the fixed pipeline is arguably even necessary before one can appreciate the power, flexibility, and freedom afforded by programmable hardware.