This book is about graphics programming based on OPENGL. The program­ ming language is C++. The programs will run under various operating systems, among them WINDOWS 9x, ALPHA-STATIONS (Digital workstations) and SILI­ CON GRAPHICS workstations. Hardware is used if accessible. The book provides a graphics library. This library is based on OPENGL and expands the elemen­ tary routines. Thus, the reader is enabled to realize direct geometrical thinking without having to care much about implementation. The enclosed modules provide the reader with solutions for: • The most common intersection problems and measuring tasks of both pla­ nar and spatial geometry. • The creation ofarbitrary geometric objects, e.g., by means ofdifferent kinds of "sweeping." • The creation of the most general solids by means of Boolean operations (intersection, union, and complements of solid polyhedra). The book presents: • A well documented, versatile, and robust geometry library. The reader can use it very easily and expand it in any way he/she likes. vi Preface • A programming course that provides a deeper insight into object-oriented thinking and programming.It contains an introduction to C++ (for begin­ ners and intermediate programmers) that is influenced by the experience gained from thousands of programming hours (which may even be useful to experienced programmers).