   I have a pretty wide understanding of C++, now...
  I just finished my sophomore year in High School and I finished a C++ programming class and have a pretty wide understanding of it. Now I'm ready to combine it with OpenGL so that I can start writing games with graphics and sound. How does all that work? Is openGL a programming language itself? or just an add on to C++ and you are still coding in C++ with more commands that come with the openGL add-on? That whole thing is confusing to me and I am uneasy stepping into untouched territory without a basic understanding of it.   
  OpenGL is a graphics API, nothing more.  it's not it's own language or anything, just a bunch of function calls.http://nehe.gamedev.net/http://www.gametutorials.com-me   ;  oh, function calls which allow for sound and graphics? okay, that makes more sense. Thanks.   ;Quote:Original post by Guhilloh, function calls which allow for sound and graphics? okay, that makes more sense. Thanks.No, not sound. Graphics and only graphics.   ;OpenAL is for sound, for example.   ;Quote:Original post by GuhillI finished a C++ programming class and have a pretty wide understanding of it. It seems like asome strange euphemism about term wide.Quote: That whole thing is confusing to me and I am uneasy stepping into untouched territory without a basic understanding of it.You seems to need a some experience (2 years+) with programming. It's intuitive when you know what are you doing, however I VERY doubt an introductionary course in C++ would give you ANY clue. Look at NEHE tutorials, they are bad, they are very bad, however they are one of the few very consistent and freely available tutorials.Start with a moving picture on the screen. If you would have it working and without bugs (and loading any image) you could continue with some other finese. BTW there are three working ways how to do it.   ;  actually I do have more than 2 years in programming, just not programming with C++. I have been coding in DarkBASIC Professional for 3 years, and in C++ for like 8 months. But I guess you're right, I probably should do some more coding in C++ before I go into openGL. I do, however have a slight problem... there are no more C++ coding classes available at my High School. There are 2 Java courses available which I will be taking my Junior year. If I want to further my knowledge in C++ I will have to teach myself using a book or pay for a class at TVI... hmmm   ;Quote:Original post by RagharIt seems like asome strange euphemism about term wide.Well, he said "wide" and not "deep", which kind of sounds like what such classes are doing. They give you a nice overview and afterwards you know ABOUT most things, but don't really know anything in detail. You might know what templates are, but wouldn't guess all the neat things you can do with them (and they probably even skipped template specialization).That said, I basically picked up C/C++ while learning OpenGL. It's possible and I didn't really feel like I was struggling. Of course, the book used a pretty pragmatic mix of C/C++ and my coding style still hasn't recovered. Also, OpenGL as such is plain C, so knowing C++ inside out isn't really necessary.;Quote:I probably should do some more coding in C++ before I go into openGL.I would rather say: Just try it out and see how far you can get. If you should not manage to get it running, skip it, do other things and come back later. If you should manage to get it running - all the better! I really think you will at least learn a lot from the approach.The best way for a tentative start might be to look into the (already mentioned) Nehe Tutorials. Work through the first three or four Tuts. If you understand them, continue.   ;  "wide" not "deep" is correct. If the openGl functions are in the C language, will that make it tougher, or will knowing C++ suffice? Ok, I will try the Nehe tutorials. Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread.   