OpenGL ES 2 for Android (PragProg)

Kevin Brothaler

edited by Susannah Davidson Pfalzer

This book will teach you everything you need to know to create compelling graphics on Android. You’ll learn the basics of OpenGL by building a simple game of air hockey, and along the way, you’ll see how to initialize OpenGL and program the graphics pipeline using shaders. Each lesson builds upon the one before it, as you add colors, shading, 3D projections, touch interaction, and more.

Then, you’ll find out how to turn your idea into a live wallpaper that can run on the home screen. You’ll learn about more advanced effects involving particles, lighting models, and the depth buffer. You’ll understand what to look for when debugging your program, and what to watch out for when deploying to the market.

OpenGL can be somewhat of a dark art to the uninitiated. As you read this book, you’ll learn each new concept from first principles. You won’t just learn about a feature; you’ll also understand how it works, and why it works the way it does. Everything you learn is forward-compatible with the just-released OpenGL ES 3, and you can even apply these techniques to other platforms, such as iOS or HTML5 WebGL.


“Kevin’s book is stuffed full of useful code and explanations, to the point of being inspirational. The math/matrix stuff is the best I have ever read on the topic. If you already know Java well and want to break into 3D graphics, this book is perfect.”

– John Horton, HadronWebDesign.com and author of the Android math league app Math Legends


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