What is Glew?
Glew is an open source C/C++ extension loading library that enables applications to access OpenGL API and extensions. It provides efficient run-time mechanisms for determining which OpenGL extensions are supported on the target platform and loading those extensions. This allows developers to leverage new hardware features without needing to explicitly update their applications.
Some key capabilities of Glew include:
- Determining which OpenGL extensions are available on a system
- Loading and using OpenGL extensions in a transparent way
- Binding extensions without modifying or recompiling code
- Supporting cross-platform development by working on many operating systems like Windows, Linux, macOS, etc.
- Integrating into IDEs like Visual Studio and into all OpenGL loading approaches
Glew removes the tedium of testing for extensions manually by providing a simple query API. It also handles supported extension strings across platforms, freeing developers to focus on making OpenGL calls rather than wrangling extensions. By using Glew, projects can leverage new OpenGL features without needing to update large amounts of client code or scaffolding.
Since it is written in clean C/C++ without external dependencies, Glew can be easily integrated into existing applications. It is licensed under the open source BSD and MIT licenses, allowing flexible commercial use. Overall, Glew enables quicker OpenGL development and frees graphics programmers from extension management duties.