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Let's Fix OpenGL

Author Adrian Sampson

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Keywords
  • language design
  • real-time graphics
  • OpenGL
  • GPUs
  • heterogeneity

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Abstract

From windowing systems to virtual reality, real-time graphics code is ubiquitous. Programming models for constructing graphics software, however, have largely escaped the attention of programming languages researchers. This essay introduces the programming model of OpenGL, a ubiquitous API for real-time graphics applications, for a language-oriented audience. It highlights six broad problems with the programming model and connects them to traditions in PL research. The issues range from classic pitfalls, where established thinking can apply, to new open problems, where novel research is needed.

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Adrian Sampson. Let's Fix OpenGL. In 2nd Summit on Advances in Programming Languages (SNAPL 2017). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 71, pp. 14:1-14:12, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2017) https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPIcs.SNAPL.2017.14

Author Details

Adrian Sampson

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