Unlocking the Power of Computer Graphics with OpenGL and Rust
The field of computer graphics has experienced rapid growth in recent years, particularly with the advancements in virtual and augmented reality technologies. At the heart of this growth is the study of graphics APIs, with OpenGL standing out as a user-friendly and widely-used option.
What is OpenGL?
OpenGL is an open-source, cross-platform graphics API that was introduced in 1992 by Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI). Since its inception, OpenGL has undergone numerous updates and revisions, adding new features and improving performance. The latest version, v4.6, was released in 2017.
Setting Up the Environment
To get started with OpenGL using Rust, we need to choose a crate that provides a rusty interface to OpenGL. In this case, we’ll use glium, a high-level graphics library for Rust that provides a safe and convenient API for interacting with OpenGL.
Step 1: Creating a Window and Event System
The first step is to create a window and event system using glium and glutin, a windowing library that provides a cross-platform API for creating windows and handling input events.
rust
let mut events_loop = glium::glutin::EventsLoop::new();
let window = glium::glutin::WindowBuilder::new()
.with_title("My First OpenGL Application")
.with_dimensions(800, 600);
let display = glium::Display::new(window, &events_loop).unwrap();
Step 2: Drawing a Rectangle
Next, we’ll draw a rectangle using glium’s vertex buffer and index buffer.
rust
let vertices = vec![
Vertex { position: [0.5, 0.5] },
Vertex { position: [-0.5, 0.5] },
Vertex { position: [0.5, -0.5] },
Vertex { position: [-0.5, -0.5] },
];
let indices = vec![0u16, 1, 2, 3];
let vertex_buffer = glium::VertexBuffer::new(&display, &vertices).unwrap();
let index_buffer = glium::IndexBuffer::new(&display, glium::index::PrimitiveType::TriangleStrip, &indices).unwrap();
Step 3: Animation
Finally, we’ll add some animation to our application by rotating the rectangle.
rust
let mut t = 0.0;
loop {
events_loop.poll_events(|event| {
match event {
glium::glutin::Event::KeyboardInput { state: glium::glutin::ElementState::Pressed, .. } => {
if let Some(glium::glutin::VirtualKeyCode::C) = event.virtual_keycode {
t += 0.01;
}
}
_ => (),
}
});
t += 0.01;
let rotation_matrix = [
[t.cos(), -t.sin()],
[t.sin(), t.cos()],
];
let uniforms = glium::uniform! { matrix: rotation_matrix };
target.clear_color(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0);
target.draw(&vertex_buffer, &index_buffer, &program, &uniforms, &Default::default()).unwrap();
target.finish().unwrap();
}
Conclusion
In this article, we explored three simple steps to build an interactive application with OpenGL and Rust. We created a window and event system, drew a rectangle, and added some animation to our application. This is just the beginning of what’s possible with OpenGL and Rust, and we hope this tutorial has inspired you to continue exploring the world of computer graphics.