Links

Here is a collection of links useful to OpenGL developers, both beginner and expert, most of them relevant whether you are using GLFW or not. While we do try to keep the links up to date, some may have gone stale.

If you find stale links below, please contact us.

OpenGL Resources

Information

OpenGL.org - Need we say more?
OpenGL Registry - The OpenGL specification registry

Tutorials

NeHe - The well-known OpenGL tutorial archive, now somewhat dated
Lighthouse 3D - OpenGL and rendering tutorials, including the OpenGL Shading Language
Clockworkcoders Tutorials - Tutorials on using the OpenGL Shading Language
TyphoonLabs Tutorials - Another set of tutorials on using the OpenGL Shading Language

Alternatives to GLFW

No library can be perfect for everyone, and GLFW is no exception. Here are a few alternatives known to be stable:

freeglut - A completely Open Source alternative to the OpenGL Utility Toolkit (GLUT) library
Simple DirectMedia Layer - A cross-platform multimedia library designed to provide low level access to audio, keyboard, mouse, joystick, 3D hardware via OpenGL, and 2D video framebuffer
Simple and Fast Multimedia Library - A free multimedia C++ API that provides you low and high level access to graphics, input, audio, etc.

There is also a list of alternatives to GLFW (actually alternatives to GLUT) maintained on OpenGL.org.

Text Rendering

FTGL - Similar to GLTT but uses FreeType 2.0 instead of 1.0
glFont - A Win32 program and API to convert TrueType fonts to textures
GLTT - Renders TrueType fonts in any OpenGL application

User Interface Toolkits

Crazy Eddie's GUI System - A free library providing windowing and widgets for graphics APIs and engines
GLAM - An OpenGL-based cross platform UI toolkit for creating 2D or 3D user interfaces
GLGooey - A portable C++ UI library
GLUI - A GLUT-based C++ UI library (does not work with GLFW)
LibUFO - A C++ core library for forms respectively graphical user interfaces
OpenGL GUI library for games - A UI library for prototyping and building game user interfaces
PUI - A compact and simple framework and UI component library
Turska UI/Framework - A portable C++ UI library

Image Loading

Simple OpenGL Image Library - A tiny C library used primarily for uploading textures into OpenGL