Introducing OpenGL ES 2

OpenGL ES 2 is the second major version of the Open Graphics Library (OpenGL) for embedded systems. It is the mobile incarnation of OpenGL for desktop systems.

Why use it and how does it work?

OpenGL runs as a native process, not on the Dalvik virtual machine like the rest of our Java. This is one of the reasons it is super fast. The OpenGL ES API takes away all of the complexity of interacting with native code, and OpenGL itself also provides very efficient and fast algorithms within its native code base.

The first version of OpenGL was completed in 1992. The point is that even back then OpenGL used arguably the most efficient code and algorithms to draw graphics. Now, more than 20 years on, it has been continually refined and improved as well as adapted to work with the latest graphics hardware, both mobile and desktop. All the mobile GPU manufacturers specifically design their hardware to be compatible with the latest version of OpenGL ES.

Trying to improve on OpenGL...