GLuint vshader = glCreateShader(GL_VERTEX_SHADER);
glShaderSource(vshader, 1, &vertex_shader_source, NULL); // vertex_shader_source is a GLchar* containing glsl shader source code
glCompileShader(vshader);

GLint vertex_compiled;
glGetShaderiv(vshader, GL_COMPILE_STATUS, &vertex_compiled);
if (vertex_compiled != GL_TRUE)
{
    GLsizei log_length = 0;
    GLchar message[1024];
    glGetShaderInfoLog(vshader, 1024, &log_length, message);
    // Write the error to a log
}

GLuint fshader = glCreateShader(GL_FRAGMENT_SHADER);
glShaderSource(fshader, 1, &fragment_shader_source, NULL); // fragment_shader_source is a GLchar* containing glsl shader source code
glCompileShader(fshader);

GLint fragment_compiled;
glGetShaderiv(fshader, GL_COMPILE_STATUS, &fragment_compiled);
if (fragment_compiled != GL_TRUE)
{
    GLsizei log_length = 0;
    GLchar message[1024];
    glGetShaderInfoLog(fshader, 1024, &log_length, message);
    // Write the error to a log
}

GLuint program = glCreateProgram();

// This step is unnecessary if you use the location specifier in your shader
// e.g. layout (location = 0) in vec3 position;
glBindAttribLocation(program, 0, "position"); // The index passed into glBindAttribLocation is
glBindAttribLocation(program, 1, "texcoord"); // used by glEnableVertexAttribArray. "position"
glBindAttribLocation(program, 2, "normal");   // "texcoord" "normal" and "color" are the names of the
glBindAttribLocation(program, 3, "color");    // respective inputs in your fragment shader.

glAttachShader(program, vshader);
glAttachShader(program, fshader);
glLinkProgram(program);

GLint program_linked;
glGetProgramiv(program, GL_LINK_STATUS, &program_linked);
if (program_linked != GL_TRUE)
{
    GLsizei log_length = 0;
    GLchar message[1024];
    glGetProgramInfoLog(program, 1024, &log_length, message);
    // Write the error to a log
}

// The index returned from these GLint functions gets passed to glEnableVertexAttribArray during rendering.
GLint position_attrib_index = glGetAttribLocation(program, "position"); // program is what is returned by glCreateProgram.
GLint texcoord_attrib_index = glGetAttribLocation(program, "texcoord");
GLint normal_attrib_index = glGetAttribLocation(program, "normal");
GLint color_attrib_index = glGetAttribLocation(program, "color");

glBindFragDataLocation(program, 0, "output_color"); // "output_color" is an output value in your vertex shader and an input value in your fragment shader.

GLint num_uniforms;
glGetProgramiv(program, GL_ACTIVE_UNIFORMS, &num_uniforms);
GLchar uniform_name[256];
GLsizei length;
GLint size;
GLenum type;
for (int i = 0; i < num_uniforms; i++)
{
    glGetActiveUniform(program, i, sizeof(uniform_name), &length, &size, &type, uniform_name);
    // ... save this uniform data so it can be used during rendering
}