OpenGL question

I'm starting the NeHe tutorials for opengl. Do I really need to memorize all that stuff you have to initialize etc. in the beginning just when making a window? Just THINKING about memorizing all of that stuff makes my head hurt.

Oh and also, I know this is the STUPIDEST question EVER because I could easily find out myself but because of HUMAN STUPIDITY and LAZINESS I am asking it now, but when I call all of the OpenGL functions, are they case sensitive?

thanks

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Originally posted by Leeman_s
I'm starting the NeHe tutorials for opengl. Do I really need to memorize all that stuff you have to initialize etc. in the beginning just when making a window? Just THINKING about memorizing all of that stuff makes my head hurt.

Oh and also, I know this is the STUPIDEST question EVER because I could easily find out myself but because of HUMAN STUPIDITY and LAZINESS I am asking it now, but when I call all of the OpenGL functions, are they case sensitive?

thanks

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You don't need to memorize the individual parameters. You really don't have to remember the function names but it will help you later. Just remember the concepts and that will help you a lot. You will become more and more familiar with them through practice.

They are case sensitive.

Just a suggestion, if you are trying to learn GL from NeHe's tutorials before you know Win32 then you arent going to get anywhere very fast. It is a good idea to have an understanding of Win32 before trying GL in it. Id suggest if you really are determined to use GL now to use it with Glut instead of trying to learn GL and Win32 together.

Glut is great, very simple to get OGL programs up and running quickly. I think Nehe has glut code available for download...

Is it really necessary to learn the Win32 API before OpenGL? I've got a visual c++ book (very good one) by ivor horton and there is a Win32 section in there. I read like half way through it awhile ago.....

OpenGL seems pretty easy right now, lol im only on the first tutorial though.

Nope, in fact its totally unnecessary! OpenGL is platform-independent so can be adapted to all operating systems which support it. Glut is the way to go if you're just starting in my opinion.

Well if your trying to use NeHe's tutorials then you need to know your Win32 or you wont understand the ways things work w/ GL under windows.

Heh, I decided to learn some Win32 anyways. I'm going on sunlight's tutorials. I guess its sort of good because:

a) After going through part of the NeHe tutorials, some of the things used in it were explained in the Win32 tutorial.

b) I now know what resources are lol.

I'm not really interested in doing a lot with Win32 except knowing about it to give me some base knowledge to help me with other APIs. Now, here is my next question:

QUESTION: Should I go for Allegro, OpenGL, or DirectX? (or stay ith Win32 for awhile)

do a search on the game programming forum...

each has their advantages and disadvantages, what you use depends on what suits your needs.