OpenGL ES 2.0 - Multiple Programs or Shaders

Question

I currently have two programs, one program for solid lines and fills with a vertex-shader-for-solids and a fragment-shader-for-solids and a second program for textures with a vertex-shader-for-textures and a fragment-shader-for-textures. I swap the the two programs in and out using glUseProgram depending on what I am drawing. Is this a good solution? Or should I glAttachShader/glDetachShader from a single program?

Answer 1

Definitely, you're using the right solution. Binding a different program should be low overhead. You obviously don't want to do it more than needed, like any state changes. For example, if you can, render everything that uses one program first, then bind the other program, and render all the primitives that use it, that would be preferable over binding a different shader more frequently.

Attaching a different shader to a program means that you'll have to relink it, which is much more expensive than just binding a different program.