Java OpenGL

JOGL
	A demo screenshot illustrating real-time refraction using JOGL on Mac OS X
Developer(s)	JogAmp Community
Stable release	2.5.0 / August 18, 2023; 16 months ago
Preview release	n/a / tbd
Written in	Java, C
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	3D computer graphics software (library/API)
License	BSD license
Website	jogamp.org/jogl/www/

Java OpenGL (JOGL) is a wrapper library that allows OpenGL to be used in the Java programming language.^[1]^[2] It was originally developed by Kenneth Bradley Russell and Christopher John Kline, and was further developed by the Game Technology Group at Sun Microsystems. Since 2010, it has been an independent open-source project under a BSD license. It is the reference implementation for Java Bindings for OpenGL (JSR-231).

JOGL allows access to most OpenGL features available to C language programs through the use of the Java Native Interface (JNI). It offers access to both the standard GL* functions along with the GLU* functions; however the OpenGL Utility Toolkit (GLUT) library is not available for window-system related calls, as Java has its own windowing systems: Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT), Swing, and some extensions.

Design

The base OpenGL C API, as well as its associated Windowing API,^[3] are accessed in JOGL via Java Native Interface (JNI) calls. As such, the underlying system must support OpenGL for JOGL to work.

JOGL differs from some other Java OpenGL wrapper libraries in that it merely exposes the procedural OpenGL API via methods on a few classes, rather than trying to map OpenGL functionality onto the object-oriented programming paradigm. Indeed, most of the JOGL code is autogenerated from the OpenGL C header files via a conversion tool named GlueGen, which was programmed specifically to facilitate the creation of JOGL.

Status and standardization

As of 2023^[update], JOGL provides full access to the OpenGL 4.5 specification as well as almost all vendor extensions (and OpenCL, OpenMAX and OpenAL).^[4] The 2.5.0 version is the reference implementation for JSR-231 (Java Bindings for OpenGL).^[5] The 1.1.1 release gave limited access to GLU NURBS, providing rendering of curved lines and surfaces via the traditional GLU APIs. The 2.3.2 release added support for OpenGL versions up to 4.5, and OpenGL ES versions up to 3.2.

Wayland and Vulkan support is planned.^[6]

Java2D-OpenGL interoperability

Since the Java SE 6 version of the Java language, Java2D (the API for drawing two dimensional graphics in Java) and JOGL have become interoperable, allowing it to :

Overlay Swing components (lightweight menus, tooltips, and other widgets) on top of OpenGL rendering.^[7]
Draw 3D OpenGL graphics on top of Java2D rendering (see here for a button with an OpenGL icon).
Use 3D graphics anywhere where ordinarily a Swing widget would be used. (Inside a JTable, JTree, ...)
Draw Java2D graphics on top of 3D OpenGL rendering.

Tutorials

OpenGL ES 2 sample
Hello Triangle, gl3 and gl4 Hello Triangle and Texture. The samples are offered in Java and Kotlin
Java OpenGL Sample Pack, porting of g-truc OpenGL Sample Pack. The over 230 samples illustrate almost all OpenGL features ranging from ES 2.0 up to the last GL extensions, same of them usually also called AZDO (Almost Zero Driver Overhead).
modern jogl examples, Porting of Learning Modern 3D Graphics Programming, Jason L. McKesson Archived 2016-09-23 at the Wayback Machine. Java and Kotlin side by side.
Immediate mode sample (simplest example, using the Fixed-function graphics pipeline)

Code examples

    @Override
    public void display(GLAutoDrawable drawable) {

        GL4 gl4 = drawable.getGL().getGL4();

        gl4.glClearBufferfv(GL2ES3.GL_COLOR, 0, clearColor);
        gl4.glClearBufferfv(GL2ES3.GL_DEPTH, 0, clearDepth);

        {
            FloatUtil.makeLookAt(view, 0, eye, 0, at, 0, up, 0, tmp);
            FloatUtil.makePerspective(projection, 0, reset, 45f, aspect, near, far);

            FloatUtil.multMatrix(projection, view); // projection *= view

            transformPointer.asFloatBuffer().put(projection);
        }

        gl4.glUseProgram(programName);
        gl4.glBindVertexArray(vertexArrayName.get(0));
        gl4.glBindBufferBase(GL2ES3.GL_UNIFORM_BUFFER /*target*/, 1 /*TRANSFORM0, index*/, bufferName.get(2) /*TRANSFORM, buffer*/);

        gl4.glBindTextureUnit(0 /*diffuse*/, textureName.get(0));
        gl4.glBindSampler(0 /*diffuse*/, samplerName.get(0));

        gl4.glDrawElements(GL.GL_TRIANGLES, elementCount, GL.GL_UNSIGNED_SHORT, 0);
    }

References

^ Friesen, Jeff (September 18, 2008). "Open source Java projects: Java Binding for OpenGL (JOGL)". Open Source Java Tutorials. JavaWorld. Retrieved 2020-07-23. JOGL originated as a project named Jungle, which was created by 3D graphics experts Ken Russell (of Sun Microsystems) and Chris Kline (of Irrational Games).
^ Davis, Gene (February 21, 2005). "Hello JOGL". JavaWorld. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
^ "3D & Multimedia Across Platforms and Devices Using JOGL" (PDF). SIGGRAPH. 2010-07-27. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
^ "JOGL - Java Binding for the OpenGL API".
^ "JSR-000231 Java Bindings for the OpenGL API". Java Community Process. Retrieved 2011-02-06. In order to facilitate maximum community participation for the Java Binding for the OpenGL API, we use the JOGL project on java.net found at https://jogl.dev.java.net. The JOGL source code can be found there, licensed under a liberal source code license (mostly licensed as BSD except where we use other parties' licensed code). We take a snapshot of the code from this project every few months, run the Technology Compatibility Kit on the source code, and then officially make it the Reference Implementation for each formal Java Binding for the OpenGL API release.
^ "Bug 794 - Add Wayland Windowing/Surface Interoperability". 2013-08-05.
^ "JOGL Userguide".

External links

Official website
JOGL 2.3.x Specification
JSR-231 Java Bindings for OpenGL website
tool kiet Archived 2009-02-09 at the Wayback Machine, The OpenGL Programming Guide examples using JOGL
NeHe's tutorials and sample code
Setting up a JogAmp JOGL project in your favorite IDE
Viewer3D, an applet to display interactive 3D content with JOGL
Eclipse OpenGL Pack OpenGL plugin for the Eclipse IDE

[1] Friesen, Jeff (September 18, 2008). "Open source Java projects: Java Binding for OpenGL (JOGL)". Open Source Java Tutorials. JavaWorld. Retrieved 2020-07-23. JOGL originated as a project named Jungle, which was created by 3D graphics experts Ken Russell (of Sun Microsystems) and Chris Kline (of Irrational Games).

[2] Davis, Gene (February 21, 2005). "Hello JOGL". JavaWorld. Retrieved 2020-07-23.

[3] "3D & Multimedia Across Platforms and Devices Using JOGL" (PDF). SIGGRAPH. 2010-07-27. Retrieved 2011-02-06.

[4] "JOGL - Java Binding for the OpenGL API".

[5] "JSR-000231 Java Bindings for the OpenGL API". Java Community Process. Retrieved 2011-02-06. In order to facilitate maximum community participation for the Java Binding for the OpenGL API, we use the JOGL project on java.net found at https://jogl.dev.java.net. The JOGL source code can be found there, licensed under a liberal source code license (mostly licensed as BSD except where we use other parties' licensed code). We take a snapshot of the code from this project every few months, run the Technology Compatibility Kit on the source code, and then officially make it the Reference Implementation for each formal Java Binding for the OpenGL API release.

[6] "Bug 794 - Add Wayland Windowing/Surface Interoperability". 2013-08-05.

[7] "JOGL Userguide".

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