W3cubDocs

/Web APIs

WebGLProgram

The WebGLProgram is part of the WebGL API and is a combination of two compiled WebGLShaders consisting of a vertex shader and a fragment shader (both written in GLSL).

WebGLObject WebGLProgram

To create a WebGLProgram, call the GL context's createProgram() function. After attaching the shader programs using attachShader(), you link them into a usable program. This is shown in the code below.

js

const program = gl.createProgram();

// Attach pre-existing shaders
gl.attachShader(program, vertexShader);
gl.attachShader(program, fragmentShader);

gl.linkProgram(program);

if (!gl.getProgramParameter(program, gl.LINK_STATUS)) {
  const info = gl.getProgramInfoLog(program);
  throw `Could not compile WebGL program. \n\n${info}`;
}

See WebGLShader for information on creating the vertexShader and fragmentShader in the above example.

Examples

Using the program

The steps to actually do some work with the program involve telling the GPU to use the program, bind the appropriate data and configuration options, and finally draw something to the screen.

js

// Use the program
gl.useProgram(program);

// Bind existing attribute data
gl.bindBuffer(gl.ARRAY_BUFFER, buffer);
gl.enableVertexAttribArray(attributeLocation);
gl.vertexAttribPointer(attributeLocation, 3, gl.FLOAT, false, 0, 0);

// Draw a single triangle
gl.drawArrays(gl.TRIANGLES, 0, 3);

Deleting the program

If there is an error linking the program or you wish to delete an existing program, then it is as simple as running WebGLRenderingContext.deleteProgram(). This frees the memory of the linked program.

js

gl.deleteProgram(program);

Specifications

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
WebGLProgram 10 12 4 11 12 5.1 4.4 25 4 12 8 1.5
worker_support No No 105 No No No No No 105 No No No

See also

© 2005–2023 MDN contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WebGLProgram