Shading languages usually consist of special data types like "vector", "matrix", "color" and "normal".
Open Shading Language (OSL) was developed by Sony Pictures Imageworks for use in its Autodesk Arnold Renderer.
They provide both higher hardware abstraction and a more flexible programming model than previous paradigms, which hardcoded transformation and shading equations.
The OpenGL Architecture Review Board established the ARB assembly language in 2002 as a standard low-level instruction set for programmable graphics processors.
High-level OpenGL shading languages often compile to ARB assembly for loading and execution.
Unlike high-level shading languages, ARB assembly does not support control flow or branching.
The language unifies vertex and fragment processing in a single instruction set, allowing conditional loops and branches.
The Cg language, developed by Nvidia,[5] was designed for easy and efficient production pipeline integration.
PSSL is said to be largely compatible with the HLSL shader language from DirectX 12, but with additional features for the PS4 and PS5 platforms.