OpenGL

OpenGL is a software interface for writing applications that produce 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of about 250 different commands which can be used to build complicated three dimensional scenes from simple primitives. It is very popular in the video games development industry where it competes with Direct3D? (on Microsoft Windows). The interface is designed to be portable and hardware independent. Efficient implementations of it exist in Windows, many UNIX platforms, and MacOS.

OpenGL evolved from (and is very similar in style to) SGI's earlier 3D interface, IrisGL?.

Several libraries are built on top of OpenGL to provide features not available in OpenGL itself:

• GLU?
• GLUT
• [Fahrenheit Scene Graph]?

For more information about OpenGL visit http://www.opengl.org