An Introduction to OpenCV

OpenCV is a library of image-processing functions, along with some machine learning functionality. It is implemented in C, C++ and Python. A familiarity with any of these three languages coupled with a basic knowledge of image processing is sufficient to learn OpenCV.

If you are unfamiliar with any of the above programming languages, worry not! There are numerous resources, both books and online material to help you learn to program. First you must choose which programming language you wish to learn. All of them have merits and demerits, however, I would recommend C++. Code written in C++ is fast and the OpenCV interface for C++ is very simple ( or at the very least simpler than the C interface).

If you are unfamiliar with the basics of image processing, a good book to refer to would be Digital Image Processing by Gonzalez and Woods. This book presumes no previous knowledge of image processing and is detailed yet simple.

To learn OpenCV, you must first have it installed on your computer. Visit the OpenCV website and download the latest version of OpenCV for your machine and install it.