The Importance of OpenGL 4.3 Support for Compute Shaders

'Introduction'

When it comes to running compute shaders in an OpenGL program, the additional code required is significantly less than what's needed for integrating OpenCL. This is because the code for the 'kernels' can be written directly in GLSL, making it easier for graphics programmers to use the GPU for non-rendering tasks. With the introduction of compute shaders, the hurdles for using the GPU for computations have been lowered.

'Compute Shaders and Flexibility'

While OpenCL offers more flexibility (e.g., running kernels on the CPU or DSPs), compute shaders provide a more straightforward way to offload general-purpose computations to the GPU in graphics applications. The recent addition of ARB to the OpenGL API has provided an alternative to the Khronos-defined API.

'ARB and Debugging'

The most surprising addition to OpenGL is, without a doubt, compute shaders. This feature allows developers to register a callback to receive information about GL errors instead of querying errors manually after each GL call. Other notable additions include ARB_multi_draw_indirect, which saves more draw calls by defining draw parameters on the GPU itself, as well as KHR_debug, a set of debug features previously known from ARB_debug_output and ARB_debug_label.

'ARB_ES3_Compatibility'

To stay compatible with the latest updates, the desktop GL version had to add these new features, which were achieved with OpenGL 4.3 (ARB_ES3_compatibility). While ES 3 is based on GL 3.3 without geometry shaders and rendering to multisample texture targets, it also adds new features.

The latest incarnation of the desktop variant of this rendering API has brought some surprises. In addition to OpenGL ES 3.0, Khronos has released OpenGL 4.3 today. This marks a significant step forward in debugging and should not be underestimated. As a result, graphics programmers now have more options for using the GPU for non-rendering tasks, making it easier than ever before.

An opengl 4.3 support is required