Webgl - Overview



What is WebGL ?

WebGL (web Graphics Library) is It is the new standard for 3D graphics on the Web, it is designed for the purpose of rendering 2d graphics and interactive 3d graphics in web. It is derived form OpenGL's ES 2.0 library which is a low-level 3d API for phones and other mobile devices, WebGL provides similar functionality of ES 2.0 (Embedded Systems) and provides a good performance on modern 3d graphics hardware.

It is a JavaScript API and can be used with in HTML5 the WebGL code will be written with in < canvas > tag of HTML 5.

It is the new standard for 3D graphics on the Web which will enable web developers to harness the full power of the computers graphics rendering hardware using only JavaScript, a web browser, and a standard web technology stack. Before WebGL, developers had to rely on plug-ins or native applications and ask their users to download and install custom software in order to deliver a true 3D experience. tutorialspoint

WebGL-Architecture

tutorialspoint

What is OpenGL

Who Developed WebGL

Vladimir Vukicevic an In 2007, Vladimir Vukicevic, an American-Serbian software engineer, began working on an OpenGL prototype for the then upcoming HTML element which he called Canvas 3D. In March, 2011, his work would lead Kronos Group, the non-profit organization behind OpenGL, to create WebGL: a specification to grant Internet browsers access to Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) on those computers where they were used. Vladimir has been with Mozilla for over seven years and is passionate about making the web a high-quality platform for app development. His particular focus has been on graphics and media, and he did the foundation work and led the creation of WebGL, the standard API for 3D graphics on the web. Hes currently working on enabling developers to squeeze the most performance out of their web apps across all browsers and devices. tutorialspoint

How WebGL works

Components of WebGL

Tasks of the WebGL

Advantages of WebGL

  • JavaScript programming Because WebGL applications are largely written in and integrated into the website using JavaScript, there can be direct interaction between the WebGL application and other HTML Document Object Model (DOM) objects. In other words, a WebGL application can interact with other elements within your HTML document. Furthermore, other JavaScript libraries (e.g. JQuery) and HTML technologies can be used to enrich the WebGL application.

  • Increasing support with mobile browsers

  • Open source

    Similar to how you can look at the source code of a webpage and find out how it was created, you can look at the code of a WebGL application and see how it was developed.

  • No need for compilation

    Developing WebGL applications and getting feedback for changes you have made to the code is very straightforward and exactly the same as viewing changes you have made to an HTML document (by simply opening the web page). Consequently, the iterative process of creating a WebGL application is not affected by a lengthy compilation process.

  • Automatic memory management

    Because WebGL applications are written using JavaScript, it inherits the automatic memory management of JavaScript. It is not necessary to manually control and allocate memory within your application.

  • Easy to get set up The minimum requirements of creating a WebGL application is a text editor and a web browser.

Features of WebGL

Compatible browsers

Requirements

Environmental Set-up8

Advertisements