ABSTRACT
Starting with version 3.1, the fixed function pipeline was eliminated, an action that deprecated immediate mode and many of the familiar OpenGL functions and state variables. Every application must provide at least a vertex shader and a fragment shader. For those of us who use OpenGL to teach our graphics courses, these changes and the introduction of three additional shader stages in subsequent releases of OpenGL have led to a reexamination of how we can best teach computer graphics. As the authors of a popular textbook [Angel 09] used for the first course, we realized that this reexamination was both urgent and deep, requiring input from instructors at a variety of institutions. In the end, we wrote a new edition [Angel and Shreiner 12] that was entirely shader-based. Some of the key issues were addressed briefly in [Angel and Shreiner 11] but this chapter will not only discuss the reasons for the change but will also include practical observations and issues based on the actual teaching of a fully shader-based course.
