JOGL for proffessional development

[dodgyman]

Another set of Jogl questions.

I'm looking at JOGL to create a professional 3D application. I'm conssidering JOGL or writing a Direct3D and OpenGL renderer as an activeX control.

I tried to run the simple vertex array range demo, all I get is a white screen. And the cg demo does not work either. (I have a GEforce4, it should work.)

What is the state of JOGL. Is it possible to write a high performance engine in it, or is it, right now, a way for java programmers to dabble in OpenGL?

It seems like there are some compatibility/stability issues, and I need to know if these will become a problem for me.

Any information would be enlightening. Thanks

[gregorypierce]

http://homepage.mac.com/gregorypierce/iblog/B251959301/C1206836997/E394190108/index.html


Nevertheless the best way to try out a technology it to try using it for yourself - not depending on what other people tell you as they aren't designing your product. Personally I think it would be a horrible waste of time to put JOGL into an ActiveX container. Just use one of the many OpenGL activeX controls.

[dodgyman]

I'm not thinking of putting JOGL into an activeX control. I  am more curious as to other's experience, are there compatibility issues? Do many video cards not seem to run code as fast as they should.

Does it truly run as fast as it says it does. I'm an experienced openGL C++ programmer, and I'm trying to find out what the best course of action would be. I don't want to get deep into the project, only to find out that, for instance matrox cards don't and won't run JOGL or something to that effect.

So any experiences, and comments about the future and potential of JOGL would be appreciated.

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[gregorypierce]

Here is my 0.02 cents on the matter. JOGL talks to native C/C++ based libraries using JNI and NIO so unless the card sucks running regular OpenGL applications its likely fine running JOGL based ones... and if there is an issue, it is a bug and should be posted as such so that someone can fix it.

Does it truly run as fast as it says it does. I'm an experienced openGL C++ programmer, and I'm trying to find out what the best course of action would be.

Best course of action in terms of what, C++ or Java? Not sure I can help you as I don't understand your concern. Is it right now ready for shipping commercial product? Probably not. Is it as fast as it will eventually get? Probably Not. Is it bug free? Definitely not.

Does it work and are people seriously using it - most definitely.

[dodgyman]

I guess my main concern is this. I have a choice, I can use java and Jogl, where I have no problem with compatibility with my component and that of others in my team, or I can use C++ and have problems with compatibility.

However, once I start with Jogl I can't after 2 months just say, no it's not yet suited for commerical use, and I guess it won't be so I'll go back to plan A. I need to be sure that JOGL won't give me too many problems. This is especially a concern with compatibility with other video cards, especially with things like shaders and extensions.

Another question, but still related, is it not possible, with JNI to feed data from a java applet to native C++ code running it's own openGL implementation.

So writing the rendering part, windows window creation etc.... in C, but having a java program executing it directly? That may be another way to go.

[gregorypierce]

I guess my main concern is this. I have a choice, I can use java and Jogl, where I have no problem with compatibility with my component and that of others in my team, or I can use C++ and have problems with compatibility.

Depends on what compatibility concerns you have. Java/JOGL isn't going to solve any hardware compatibility issues that you have. So if you have compatibility issue with hardware, JOGL still isn't going to be a solution for you. If however you're talking about portability - sure, your JOGL application once built will be immediately portable to any platform for which the native libraries have been compiled and has a JDK1.4+ JVM.

However, once I start with Jogl I can't after 2 months just say, no it's not yet suited for commerical use, and I guess it won't be so I'll go back to plan A. I need to be sure that JOGL won't give me too many problems. This is especially a concern with compatibility with other video cards, especially with things like shaders and extensions.

If you can't take any risks, I would go with technologies that have existed for more than a few months. But that's just me. There are absolutely no guarantees that 6 months down the line you won't come across something that either Java, OpenGL, JOGL, etc can't resolve.

Another question, but still related, is it not possible, with JNI to feed data from a java applet to native C++ code running it's own openGL implementation.

So writing the rendering part, windows window creation etc.... in C, but having a java program executing it directly? That may be another way to go.

Sure. That's what JOGL does. If you're really serious about wanting to minimize your risks, I'd strongly suggest you actually look at the source to JOGL and build some proof of concepts.