OpenGL Core and Compatibility
c, c++, glsl, opengl
Solution
The reason for the sudden "complexity" in the core profile is the fact that the fixed functionality pipeline was not representative of what the GPU actually does for you. Much of the functionality was done on the CPU, and only the actual drawing happened on the GPU. The other problem with the fixed pipeline is that it's a losing battle. The fixed pipeline has sooooooo many knobs and switches! So, not only is it painfully complicated already, it will never keep up with the endless demand of new ways to draw scenes. Enter GLSL, and you have the ability to tell the GPU precisely how you want to draw your scene. This shifts the power to the developer and frees everyone from having to wait for OpenGL updates for new switches/knobs.
Now, regarding your frustration with the sudden loss of glBegin and glEnd... there are simple frameworks that mimic their behavior on the new core profile, and that is a good thing. Again, it shifts the power to developers to choose how they approach the pipeline. However, there is nothing wrong with practicing 3D on the FFP. You need to learn 3D math and concepts first anyway. Those concepts apply regardless of API. (Matrix math will save your life both in OpenGL and Direct3D.) So, first you practice with simple triangles and colors. Then you move onto textures (with texture coordinates). Then you add normals (with lighting). Then, after you understand all those concepts, you stop using glBegin/glEnd, and you start batching large amounts of vertex data into buffers. You will not understand glDrawElements all that well if you do not understand glBegin/glEnd anyway. So, it's OK to learn on those tools.
Problem
I'm trying to learn OpenGL. I've got experience with C and C++, setting up a build environment, and all that jazz, but I'm trying to figure out a good starting point. I'm aware of the fixed function pipeline that was prominent in OpenGL <= 2.1, and it seems relatively easy to get started with. However, the core profile that OpenGL pushes in OpenGL >= 3.1 makes me want to stay away from the FFP due to deprecation. But I'm confused as to how it all works in 3.1 and above. In 2.1 and below you have your glBegin(GL_WHATEVER) and glEnd() when you're drawing shapes. The first thing I noticed when looking through the core profile API, is that those two function calls are gone. I realize there's probably a simple replacement, but it's quite shocking to see something so (seemingly useful) taken out of such a basic task. It almost seems like deprecating printf() from the c standard library. And when I work through the newest Red Book, they still use the old deprecated code which further muddles my thinking. When reading through various answers to similar questions I see the typical "shader based" or "it's all done with shaders" etc etc. If I want to draw a simple white square onto a black background (the first example in the newest Red Book), I don't understand how a shader is relevant to drawing a box at all. Shouldn't they do... well.. shading? I've looked into buying the Orange Book and the Blue Book, but I don't want to spend anymore money on something that's going to hide it all behind a library (the Blue Book) or something that's going to talk about programming a shader to perform some lighting task in a 3D environment (the Orange Book). So where do I begin? How do I draw a box (or a cube or a pyramid or whatever) using nothing but the core profile. I'm not asking for a code snippet here, I'm looking for a expansive tutorial or a book or something that someone could point me to. If this has been answered previously and I didn't find it, please redirect me.