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- Will Vulkan replace OpenGL?
Will Vulkan replace OpenGL?
Aug 15, 2016 at 6:05am
Hi guys,
I was wondering if there is any chance that the new Vulkan API will replace OpenGL. If Vulkan is going to replace OpenGL, When do you think it will and if so, is it still worth learning OpenGL?. Also, isn't Vulkan much harder to program that OpenGL? Is it harder that DirectX?
Thanks :-)
I was wondering if there is any chance that the new Vulkan API will replace OpenGL. If Vulkan is going to replace OpenGL, When do you think it will and if so, is it still worth learning OpenGL?. Also, isn't Vulkan much harder to program that OpenGL? Is it harder that DirectX?
Thanks :-)
Aug 15, 2016 at 6:31am
Been out of touch so I'm not going to get real in-depth...
Vulkan isn't an exact replacement. It probably will be for games but not so for quick-and-dirty demos or rendered (not real-time) simulation.
Vulkan is much harder to understand than OpenGL because OpenGL doesn't require you understand how graphics work. All you need with OpenGL is to setup a shader, push some vertices, and you're done. You can have a working program in ~100 lines of code or less.
Vulkan requires you setup context for Vulkan, setup context for each graphics card meaning you setup buffers in various areas, completely handle submission of data to the correct buffers, parse graphics card capabilities, and it goes on. With this complication comes a large amount of flexibility and versatility. One that really rocks is the ability to control memory to a very low-level degree. This is where most driver-level optimizations happened and since it can now be handled in a Vulkan application, we should be seeing more consistent performance in applications across platforms.
That said, Vulkan will normally be abstracted behind an engine. There's no particular reason you need to learn Vulkan directly unless you plan to become an engine developer.
Vulkan and Direct3D 12 are very similar. In some cases, their terminology is even interchangeable or directly relate to each other.
Vulkan isn't an exact replacement. It probably will be for games but not so for quick-and-dirty demos or rendered (not real-time) simulation.
Vulkan is much harder to understand than OpenGL because OpenGL doesn't require you understand how graphics work. All you need with OpenGL is to setup a shader, push some vertices, and you're done. You can have a working program in ~100 lines of code or less.
Vulkan requires you setup context for Vulkan, setup context for each graphics card meaning you setup buffers in various areas, completely handle submission of data to the correct buffers, parse graphics card capabilities, and it goes on. With this complication comes a large amount of flexibility and versatility. One that really rocks is the ability to control memory to a very low-level degree. This is where most driver-level optimizations happened and since it can now be handled in a Vulkan application, we should be seeing more consistent performance in applications across platforms.
That said, Vulkan will normally be abstracted behind an engine. There's no particular reason you need to learn Vulkan directly unless you plan to become an engine developer.
Vulkan and Direct3D 12 are very similar. In some cases, their terminology is even interchangeable or directly relate to each other.
Aug 15, 2016 at 7:24am
@NoXzema
Thanks for your reply.
It is good to hear that Vulkan is not a replacement for OpenGL.
Will there still be good resources for OpenGL in the future though?
Thanks :-)
Thanks for your reply.
It is good to hear that Vulkan is not a replacement for OpenGL.
Will there still be good resources for OpenGL in the future though?
Thanks :-)
Aug 15, 2016 at 7:34amclosed account (48T7M4Gy)
Just for interest sake ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulkan_(API)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulkan_(API)
Aug 15, 2016 at 8:17am
Khronos has a diagram in their overview presentation which explains when and who should use Vulkan instead of openGL. It's on page 10. https://www.khronos.org/assets/uploads/developers/library/overview/vulkan-overview.pdf
Last edited on Aug 15, 2016 at 8:18am
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