GLUT Efficiency

OpenGL
1

Hi,

If I choose to use GLUT to develop an OpenGL program instead a OS dependent toolkit, will that mean that it’ll run a lot slower? The question is, will the use of GLUT create an efficiency issue on my program?

Can GLUT be as efficient as any other toolkit?

Best Regards,
Paulo Matos

2

I believe that GLUT has an efficency problem if you do not use the special game mode. I do not know the exact reasons, but I have heard that GLUT does some strange things in “standard” mode.

If you do use the game mode, I think the efficiency difference is negligable (compared to a native toolkit or a custom native wrapper).

Hint: you may want to have a look at GLFW too, which is a platform independent toolkit that does not suffer from efficiency problems.

3

Originally posted by marcus256:
[b]I believe that GLUT has an efficency problem if you do not use the special game mode. I do not know the exact reasons, but I have heard that GLUT does some strange things in “standard” mode.

If you do use the game mode, I think the efficiency difference is negligable (compared to a native toolkit or a custom native wrapper).[/b]

What do you mean by game mode? How can I enable it and what are the differences from standard mode? Any references?

Best regards,
Paulo Matos

4 
glutInitDisplayMode(GLUT_RGB | GLUT_DOUBLE | GLUT_DEPTH);
glutGameModeString("640x480:16@60");
glutEnterGameMode();
...
glutLeaveGameMode();

See “Help with glutGameMode” in http://www.mathies.com/glfaq/GLToolkitFAQ.html