How to find out which OpenGL functions I can use with OpenGL 3.3 video card?

Question

I am about to start learning OpenGL with the book : OpenGL SuperBible 6th edition. I am an absolute beginner, so if my question will seem "strange", it means I need some extra explanations.

The book states :

This book covers version 4.3 of the OpenGL specification.

But my video card ( Nvidia GeForce 9500GT ) supports only OpenGL 3.3 ( that is what I found when checking GPU Caps Viewer ).

My question is : When learning from the book, how do I know which functions and methods explained in the book I can use with my video card, and which ones I can't ?

Answer 1

The functions which are part of OpenGL 3.3 are listed in its man pages. If the function talked about in the book is not listed in this, then that function would be part of OpenGL 4 or above. The man pages strictly have only what is absoluted mandated for that particular version of OpenGL. OpenGL 4 man pages are also there to verify against.

Another resource is OpenGL 3.2 reference card which lists them neatly. You can compare it with the 4.3 reference card to know the difference.

Above all OpenGL is an open specification, so you are free to look up the OpenGL 3.3 specification to confirm some assumption if you want to be just sure.