How do I debug shaders in my graphics application?

I'm having trouble with my shaders. They don't seem to be rendering correctly. How can I debug them?

Debugging shaders can be tricky. First, check for syntax errors in your shader code. Are you using a specific graphics API?

I'm using OpenGL. What tools can I use to help debug my shaders?

You can use tools like RenderDoc or NVIDIA Nsight. They allow you to inspect the rendering pipeline and see what's going wrong.

That sounds helpful! What should I look for in RenderDoc?

In RenderDoc, you can capture frames and inspect the draw calls. Look for any unexpected values in your shader inputs and outputs.

Thanks! I'll give that a try. Any tips for optimizing my shaders as well?

Absolutely! Focus on reducing the number of texture lookups and avoid complex calculations in fragment shaders when possible.