
VI
Debugging
and Profiling
We probably often underestimate how powerful the OpenGL API can be. However,
programming is less about the result than the process to reach this result. The most
impressive rendering is nothing but the end of a path that is, in a large part, debug-
ging and profiling. Unfortunately, OpenGL doesn’t have a great reputation on that
side. Who really enjoys using glGetError?
This part of the OpenGL experience is now history since the release at SIG-
GRAPH 2010 of the GL
ARB debug ouput extension that revolutionizes every day
of an OpenGL programmer’s life. This revolution is captured by Ant´onio Ramires
and Bruno Oliveira in their