I am still learning OpenGL and I have been looking around the web for various resources. The online resources I have encountered seem few and far between, as well as out of date. A lot of so called tutorials provide code without explanation, which is not much help in the learning process.

Therefore, I decided recently that purchasing a book would probably be the most thorough way to learn OpenGL. I would prefer to learn the most recent version, so I was considering the book: OpenGL Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL, Version 4.3 (8th Edition).

This book does not come out until April 1st, but I was wondering, aside from the reviews on Amazon (not very helpful), if someone could give me some insight into the previous editions, and whether or not they think this will be a good purchase for a beginner.

In a sense, is this worth the money?

If not, are there any alternatives that still cover the latest version of OpenGL from the ground up?

I'm not sure why, but almost everyone ignores the OpenGL and GLSL specifications, which are free, downloadable PDF files on the www.opengl.org website.

Yes, they are not printed books. Yes, they don't have boatloads of drawings and figures and pretty color photos. However, they are VASTLY more helpful than the term "specifications" implies. So the very first thing you should do is download, print-if-you-prefer, then read all the way through those documents. They really are great.

As for "regular books", the OpenGL SuperBible has been the best OpenGL-specific book for several years. And probably the best book that isn't OpenGL-specific is "Real Time Rendering".

These days, to do a great job, you almost need to have all these resources available:

- the specifications
- the best 2 or 3 OpenGL-specific books

- the best 3 to 8 other 3D graphics books

- the best 100~200 PDF files you can find on the internet

In my opinion, the official OpenGL books were never near the top of the list of "bests". However, if they issue a full rewrite and it fully covers v4.30 (not just an addendum of newly added features), then it might be the first "real winner" from that series.

Thank you so much for the responses. I had heard that the previous version of this book was not super helpful and was mostly a slight adjustment to the prior edition. Here's hoping this edition is better.

Also, regarding the specification document. I have looked into it, but it is less a guide of how to use OpenGL and really more of a description of what the new version does. What I'm really looking for is a complete beginners guide of OpenGL with the most modern version. With regards to the version, my thought process is that by the time I ever get something worthwhile accomplished with OpenGL, version 4.3 will be a lot more common than it is now.