How do I learn WebGL the fast way? [closed]

Question

I am learning WebGL these days, but I found that it's really hard to understand the pipeline.

1. Is there any head first WebGL tutorial online ?
2. Should I learn GLSL ?
3. The code to draw something with WebGL is too complex, is there any way to reduce the code lines?

Answer 1

1. http://learningwebgl.com/blog/?p=11 (dead link as of Nov 2018, backup: https://web.archive.org/web/20180615095219/http://learningwebgl.com/blog/?p=11)
2. Yes, I could recommend Light House 3D: http://www.lighthouse3d.com/tutorials/glsl-core-tutorial/
3. It's not that complex, just focus on the code written on Learning webGL. I wouldn't recommend working with some other library/engine at the start. Learn basics and later use libraries to speed up your coding.

Learning webGL is great place to start, probably best. Don't hesitate to read from as many resources you can. Opera developer, Mozilla Hacks, Light House 3D, Scratch a Pixel, Aerotwist (http://www.aerotwist.com/tutorials/an-introduction-to-shaders-part-1/ more shaders)... It's very difficult at the beginning, but later you'll get the grasp of the pipeline and way of thinking. It takes time (1-2 months to learn only basics), but be persistent.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

There are interactive tutorials here: http://www.webglacademy.com
I think it's cool because you can change your code, test it again, and it is step by step.

You can also check webgl lesson on http://www.learningwebgl.com
Then, when I want to search some help about a specific webgl API/GLSL command, I search on http://www.opengl.org/sdk/docs/manglsl/