Accessible GLSL Shader Programming

Abstract

Teaching fundamental principles of Computer Graphics requires a thoroughly prepared lecture alongside practical training. Modern graphics programming rarely provides a straightforward application programming interface (API) and the available APIs pose high entry barriers to students. Shader-based programming of standard graphics pipelines is often inaccessible through complex setup procedures and convoluted programming environments. In this paper we discuss an undergraduate entry level lecture with its according lab exercises. We present a programming framework that makes interactive graphics programming accessible while allowing to design individual tasks as instructive exercises to solidify the content of individual lecture units. The discussed teaching framework provides a well defined programmable graphics pipeline with geometry shading stages and image-based post processing functionality based on framebuffer objects. It is open-source and available online.