Related toolkits and APIs

Toolkits top on OpenGL

Many programming interfaces are layered on OpenGL with rich and varied functionality. Not all can interoperate.

Extension libraries

A extension libraries simplifies the work with OpenGL extensions.

GLEW

A extension library for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, Irix, and Solaris.

GLee

A extension library for Windows, Linux and FreeBSD.

Scene graphs

A scene graph works on the top of OpenGL.

Open Scene Graph

This scene graph works on all Windows platforms, OSX, GNU/Linux, IRIX, Solaris and FreeBSD.

OpenSG

It's a scene graph which works on IRIX, Windows and Linux.

Toolkits to bridge OpenGL and the Window System

You need widget toolkit to bridge OpenGL and the window system. OpenGL knows nothing about the surrounding window system. There are many toolkits for that task. Most modern widget libraries provide this support.

Cross-platform Toolkits

GLUT

A simple Toolkit.

FLTK

A small widget library.

Qt

A toolkit which abstracts the Linux, MacOS X and Windows away.