Dev C++'s library

[Nick]

Im using dev C++ version 4.9.9.2 and Ive found a gl folder in the library in it are 3 files:
gl.h
glext.h
glu.h

I was wondering if these had anything to do with openGL and if not Im curious to know what these are

[Tony]

they very likely have something to do with openGL.

[Nick]

i looked into this a bit more

apprently Dev came with a default project containing a source code to a rotating triangle

then i looked for some tutorials on google but all were either C or needed glut.h which is missing

[Saad]

If your trying to learn C++, I would highly suggest you stay away from learning openGL at this moment, until you get really comfortable with C++.

[Mazer]

The OpenGL libraries were written in C. This is great because it makes it easy to write wrappers for other languages, and that's why you can write programs using OpenGL in pretty much anything you want.

gl.h has the headers for OpenGL. You need this if you want to do anything.

glu.h has the headers for the OpenGL Utility library. You can actually get by without this, but it's nice to have things like gluPerspective when you don't want to do the matrix manipulation yourself. If you do, fine.

glut.h has the headers for the GL Utility Toolkit. This has the advantage of wrapping up window creation, input, and to a small extent GUIs wrapped up nicely for you. The problem is that glut is proprietary and no longer maintained. There are alternatives to it, like freeglut. Whatever floats your boat.

And just to be clear, Dev-C++ is not a compiler. It doesn't come with libraries. It comes with MinGW32 which comes with libraries, including OpenGL.

I have to agree with Saad; you should get used to the language before you try to jump into learning OpenGL. Particularly because of the C thing. Make sure you can write decent object oriented code before you get into the habit of using OpenGL everywhere. And avoid NeHe.