OpenAL

What do you like best?

OpenAL is designed to function in a way that's very similar to OpenGL. As such, many of the features are easily accessible and simple to understand if you already know OpenGL, since they work in the same way, with the only significant changes being to syntax.

The library does not provide file-loading functionality. While this is often seen as a negative point, it drastically reduces the size and increases the performance of the library, and reduces the scope of the library as a whole to allow it to target a particular function. It also offers developers complete freedom of what filetypes they use and how much they optimise their solutions.

What do you dislike?

My main dislike about OpenAL is the learning curve for people not using OpenGL. These users have to learn a lot about OpenAL to make it feasible for use. As such, some users are put-off when comparing the library to other, more feature-packed libraries or existing wrappers over OpenAL.

Recommendations to others considering the product:

Make sure you have a solid understanding of how OpenGL works prior to working with OpenAL.

What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?

I've been using OpenAL for developing the underlying source code that I use to make indie games. These games are small in scope, and very few have seen public release, due to the experimental nature of the products being built.