WebGL

Technology & Computing abbreviation · Internet & Web

WebGL
Stands forWeb Graphics Library
CategoriesTechnology & Computing

WebGL stands for Web Graphics Library, an Internet & web abbreviation.

A JavaScript API for rendering hardware-accelerated 2D and 3D graphics inside a browser canvas without plug-ins. It powers browser games, 3D product viewers, data visualizations and interactive maps.

Example: The 3D car configurator uses WebGL, so it needs a reasonably recent graphics driver.

Usage notes

Based on OpenGL ES and maintained by the Khronos Group; WebGL 1.0 was released in 2011 and WebGL 2.0 in 2017. Libraries such as Three.js and Babylon.js hide much of its complexity. Its successor, WebGPU, exposes modern GPU features and compute shaders and began shipping in Chrome in 2023.

More Internet & web abbreviations

  • URN – Uniform Resource Name
  • W3C – World Wide Web Consortium
  • WAI – Web Accessibility Initiative
  • WASM – WebAssembly
  • WCAG – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
  • WebDAV – Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning
  • WebRTC – Web Real-Time Communication
  • WHATWG – Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group
  • WP – WordPress
  • WWW – World Wide Web
  • XHR – XMLHttpRequest
  • XHTML – Extensible HyperText Markup Language

See all 76 Internet & web abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.