LWJGL3: Overloaded glBufferData methods

Question

I am using LWJGL to call OpenGL functions.

The method org.lwjgl.opengl.GL15#glBufferData() calls the equivalent OpenGL method . It has several overloaded variants in LWJGL, and the most used I've seen is with FloatBuffer , like this for a simple triangle (other unrelated OpenGL calls omitted):

float[] triangle = new float[]{
    0.0f,  0.5f, 0.0f,
    -0.5f, -0.5f, 0.0f,
    0.5f,  -0.5f, 0.0f
};

FloatBuffer buf = BufferUtils.createFloatBuffer(triangle.length);
buf.put(triangle).flip();

int vbo = glGenBuffers();
glBindBuffer(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, vbo);
glBufferData(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, buf, GL_STATIC_DRAW);

But there are also variants that directly take an array, eg float[] as the data. Since I never saw that used in any code examples online, I wonder if it is discouraged for any reason?

Answer 1

The usage of the methods. with arrays rather than *Buffer are not discouraged . You may not find example of their usage online because the have only been added recently.

AFAIK there is nothing wrong with using these methods, execpt they might be a fraction slower than the ones with *Buffer as the arrays (and their data) is in the head. Whether that is an actual performance concern is arguable and can only be identified by profiling the specific situation .

So just use whatever is more comfortable to you .