Customer Reviews

C++ For Game Programmers (Game Development Series)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is not about game programming. It is about using C++ effectively to write game code. It is for "Programmers" who use C++ to write game code. Just wanted to clear that up for some of you boneheads who were expecting some kind of graphics tutorial.

Anyway, I devoured this book in a few days. It is written in the fasion of Scott Meyers indispensable "Effective C++" series. Noel explains what the compiler may or may not do for you. For instance, you may be surprised to learn that your inline functions may in fact not be inlined. Noel explains why and how to better your chances of getting your function truly inlined. If you are used to always writing copy constructors, Noel will show you when not to in game code. The breakdown of the virtual function table for an object with multiple inheritance was an eye opener. He also supplies a memory manager worth it's weight in gold! (How do you weigh code...?)

Also covered are the STL, Abstract Interfaces (great for implementing your graphics pipeline in BOTH Direct X and OpenGL), Plug In's (very cool coverage) as well as implementing your own Run Time Type Checker you can use in your Linux code as well (MicroSoft's RTTI bytes).

What Noel stresses throught the book is if your code is doing something a hundred thousand times each frame, you better know what it's really doing! The code snippets are perfect. They are not complete examples you can rip off and drop into your own code. But they do show you enough to make you say "Ah ha! Thats how its done." If you are a software engineer by profession, you will find yourself hurrying to work to see where you can improve that dog you are working on. I carry a book bag every day with 5 or 6 programming books that should be in every programmers library. This book is now one of them.

Finally, if you want a sample of Noels writing, run out and pick up a copy of the April 2004 issue of "Game Developer" magazine and check out his article on "Optimizing the Content Pipeline."

I have to admit, I did *know* a good portion of the material covered in the book, but I can now honestly say I truly *understand* it. As an industry outsider, looking to get in, its really nice to have so many concepts clearly and concisely explained, instead of just picking them up here and there.

I have a collection of dozens of books on C++ and Game Programming, but its refreshing to finally find a work that explains relevant topics clearly without either going over my head or (to the other extreme) trying to sound too "hip" and coming across as amateurish.

If you have a working knowledge of C++ and are looking to take the next step in applying your knowledge toward game-related concepts, this book is for you. Don't expect to learn the specifics of AI or game physics, or the latest pixel shader technology, that is not what the book is about. It covers the fundamentals of using C++ in game programming, and it covers them very well.

I read this book in the context of developing a CAD-program, using similar 3D-techniques as used in games. I've enjoyed the more mature C++-level then the usual C++ introductory books.

I bought it especially for the plug-ins chapter, which is a workable approach (although the example is Win32-specific.

The book tackles a few different subjects that are hard to find elsewhere and that have been very usefull for me. This is not an introductory course and I couldn't have read it last year (although I wish I had known some of these approaches earlier on).

It handles the topics in short and understandable examples, which makes it not a full-project approach, but more of a "good practices"-approach.

What it lacks is some more detail and some more elaborated examples, but I guess it found a good balance to usable technical approaches and readability.

This is indeed a good book. It gives you almost every important tips you ever need to know. After reading this book, if you're able to catch/grasp what the author is trying to convey, I'm sure that you'll have a few level-ups in your C++ skills.

Although it stated for Game Programmers in the title, the tips and tricks can be applied to other application programming using C++ too.

However, if you are looking for design patterns, this is not the book. It doesn't touch anything about design pattern as this is totally out of the scope.

Also, if you are newbie in C++, perhaps you would like to read other C++ book first.

First off, the guy who said this book has nothing to do with game programming is wrong. He was obviously expecting a "read this book and make a Doom clone in 4 hours" book. There is no book like that, and this book did not advertise that.
Like the title of my review suggests, there is more to game programming than graphics. This book teaches no graphics; it does, however, teach you to use graphics wisely. Also, it doesn't teach C++ from the beginning - you are expected to know C++ before reading this book. What this book does is teach you to use C++ effectively in game programming.
Overall, this is a good read for anyone interested in making high quality games.

I work as a programmer many years, and like many seasoned C
programmers, I had a tough time to move from procedural
programming to object oriented programming and to do it
correctly! This book gave me the guidelines how to do it, and
am applying it in my software which is not game programming,
as the tricks and ideas in the book are relevant for every
C++ programming discipline

thats how useful i feel this book has been. i'm a games content coder, and this book has allowed me to expand on my base knowledge astronomically. if you already can code in c++, you just have no idea how it works under the hood, then this is the perfect book. it assumes you can code, it assumes you know the basics atleast of c++, and then it tells you exactly how all those wonderful features you use actually work. every chapter contains constant appraisals of the performance and efficency costs of every aspect of c++, the stuff thats really relevant for games coders.

As other reviewers have said this book isn't really a game programming book. It's title really ought to be "C++ programming for high performance applications". That said it is a wonderful book! I highly recommend it as a well written, easy to read intermediate/advanced C++ book.

While focusing on game development challenges, this book provides excellent advice on designing c++ applications. The author demonstrates possible implementations comparing their strengths/tradeoffs and gives very useful advice on solving common problems in game architecture.
The book is not code intensive (all examples are available in the CD-ROM), and should be useful to any intermediate c++ programmer, especially the ones planning to develop games.

Noel did a great job covering several pertinant subjects not coverege in the majority of Game Programming book. Memory pools, code archecture, plug-in design, stl, rtti,etc. There's a very practical and considred approach taken in the book based on real-world experences. Each subject is well covered and refenced at the end of each section. There's no wasted sections of endless code printouts or endless reprints of SDK help, just simple and through examples. I highly recommend this book.