Getting started with OpenGL... in Android

Question

I'm an experienced Android developer (if such thing exists) who has never worked with OpenGL before.

There are various advantages of the Android platform (open-source, open distribution, portable, and so on) that make me think that it might be a great environment to finally get into OpenGL.

But I'm also worried that the complexity of working in a environment with limited resources might be too much for someone who has never worked with 3D graphics before. Also, it seems that Android only uses a subset of OpenGL, and I don't know how this will affect my learning experience.

What do you think? Is Android OpenGL development newcomer-friendly, or for experienced OpenGL developers only?

Answer 1

There's not really an "Android OpenGL", it's just OpenGL ES 1.1 or OpenGL ES 2.0, which IS a subset of OpenGL, but oriented to mobile and embedded devices.

I don't think any platform is "newcomer-friendly", is just that you need to get the necessary knowledge to use it. For OpenGL/OpenGL ES, you need to have certain computer graphics knowledge before trying to use it. GL ES and GL are very similar and GL ES knowledge also works in GL (not viceversa, since it's a subset), so just get into it.

I recommend the book OpenGL ES 2.0 Programming Guide (for GL ES 2.0) and the book OpenGL ES Game Development for OpenGL ES 1.1. These books are in C, you need to "port" them to Java, since Android uses that, but the basics are the same.