WebGLGLSL

WebGLGLSL refers to the use of the OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL) within the WebGL API to run shader programs on the GPU in web browsers. WebGL is a JavaScript API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics, while GLSL provides small programs known as shaders. In WebGL, GLSL is used in the GLSL ES dialect, with versions corresponding to WebGL 1 and WebGL 2.

Shader programs in WebGL typically consist of a vertex shader and a fragment shader written in GLSL ES. WebGL 1.0 targets GLSL ES 1.00, whereas WebGL 2.0 targets GLSL ES 3.00, which adds features and higher precision. Shaders run on the browser’s GPU and communicate with the JavaScript code through attributes, uniforms, and textures.

The usual workflow begins by obtaining a WebGL rendering context, creating and compiling vertex and fragment shader objects, attaching them to a program, and linking the program. After the program is linked, it is used for rendering and receives data via buffers, uniforms, and samplers.

WebGL emphasizes graphics rather than general computation. There are no standard compute shaders in WebGL; compute-like tasks are typically implemented in fragment or vertex shaders and via render-to-texture pipelines or transform feedback. Cross-browser compatibility and device capability are important considerations for GLSL code.

Tooling and resources include browser developer tools for shader compilation errors, and higher-level libraries such as Three.js that abstract GLSL details. Developers write GLSL ES code embedded as strings in JavaScript, or generate it with shading language tooling.

See also WebGL, GLSL, GLSL ES, WebGL 2.