WebGL
WebGL stands for “Web Graphics Library”. This is JavaScript API to make interactive 2D and 3D graphics without any use of plugins within any browser. It was developed by Khronos Group in 2011 and is written in JavaScript. Companies that use WebGL are Scale, HHEY, PlayCanvas, and many more.
Features
- It supports vertex and fragment shaders.
- It has a data visualization feature.
- It has a cross-platform development feature.
Advantages
- It is easy to learn and then develop the applications.
- There is no need to use the plugins.
- Complex visualization is possible based on data availability.
- It supports automatic memory management.
Disadvantages
- One needs to use 2D texture to render the images in 3D.
- One needs to learn the use of buffers and shaders to use WebGL.
- It has fewer features.
Difference between WebGL and OpenGL
Both WebGL and OpenGL are graphics libraries and is developed by the same group i.e, Khronos Group in 2011 and 1992 respectively. Both libraries are used for making interactive 2D and 3D graphic images. WebGL is developed in JavaScript and is being used in HTML Canvas element so it is quite easy to use it in JavaScript and HTML and OpenGL is written in C language. Let us see on what factors both the libraries are different from each other.