Surface

Flat shading is the simplest shading model, we cover the advantages/disadvantages and a simple implementation in GLSL.

Diffuse shading is a technique to render the surface of objects that are not shinny.

As an example on the picture (credits to Marc Kleen) we see a real life car with a matte coating which we want to emulate using the Lambertian shading model.

Surface shading is a process to color a surface, in computer graphic applications this is done to mimic how objects look in real life. This article covers the variables available in the rendering pipeline.