Hello all,
Recently I have decided to pick up OpenGL because I would like to get into game development and such. So I bought this book [URL]http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-OpenGL-Programming-Second-Edition/dp/159863528X/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1344784981&sr=8-9&keywords=opengl[/URL]. I have plenty of C++ experience so I thought it would at least be manageable. However, quite frequently in the book I find many statements like "You may not understand the majority of this at first sight, but we will revisit this in a later tutorial." or something similar.
This confuses me; Am I supposed to keep reading or go back and re-read the past tutorial? So far I have just been writing the code as I see it written in the book, with limited understanding of it. On the other hand, I seem to be able to accomplish the 'On Your Own' parts at the end of the tutorial. But if someone asked me to write an OpenGL window program, I wouldn't be able to do so without the book as a reference. So my question is whether or not I am supposed to be able to recite the hundred-something lines of code I just read.
If they covered every point in detail right away, you wouldn't be able to see how everything works big-picture.
Don't worry.
They should go back and explain the finer points later on in the book.
I recently learned OpenGL. It's very confusing at first.
When you finally figure out how the whole system fits together you'll be glad you stuck with it.
[QUOTE=chimitos;37210016]If they covered every point in detail right away, you wouldn't be able to see how everything works big-picture.
Don't worry.
They should go back and explain the finer points later on in the book.
I recently learned OpenGL. It's very confusing at first.
When you finally figure out how the whole system fits together you'll be glad you stuck with it.[/QUOTE]
Alright, thanks!
I just needed a bit of reassurance.
I have found that reading multiple tutorials helped a lot, they all explain the same thing differently.
If you don't mind, can you tell me what tutorials/books you have read?
[QUOTE=Dakattack;37197274]So my question is whether or not I am supposed to be able to recite the hundred-something lines of code I just read.[/QUOTE]
Honestly I've been programming for about 8 years now, and there's some functions that I just don't bother memorizing because I can just take a glance at some api references instead.
Sounds similar to what you're going through; as long as you can remember what the meaning of the functions are you're doing great.
A good amount of my programming involves reading documentation for various APIs, including the C++ standard library because I don't care enough to remember it. You shouldn't be memorizing code, just the abstract model the code represents.
[QUOTE=Dakattack;37211501]Alright, thanks!
I just needed a bit of reassurance.
I have found that reading multiple tutorials helped a lot, they all explain the same thing differently.
If you don't mind, can you tell me what tutorials/books you have read?[/QUOTE]
I was learning EGS2, so I don't know how relevant this is for you, but this was the tutorial that helped me the most:
[url]www.disgruntledrats.com/?p=440[/url]
For books, I read the OpenGL superbible.
[url]www.starstonesoftware.com/OpenGL/[/url]
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