This book provides a great educational resource for elementary 3D graphics. Even though the algorithms presented may be a bit simplistic compared to, for example, those used in the QuakeIII engine, they offer a great insight into the mathematics behind 3D graphics. C code optimization is also well presented in this book, but again a bit outdated, as modern compilers make macros for speed a thing of the past! This is a great book though, and ALL algorithms described have good mathematical background provided. You can also disregard the source code and use this just as a book on the math behind 3D graphics.
Covered are: vectors, matrices, planes, lines, surfaces and all possible intersections thereof. Interpolation is also covered.
I took the ideas in this book to write a very efficient C++ class library for my own use, and currently am rewriting for Java. This book is especially good if you only require wire-frame or simple shaded images.
The book is also very good on the subject of C programming techniques (and tricks) alone (for those newbies who are scared of pointers, this book will convince you they're worth getting 'under your belt'!!), but as I said, with modern C++ compilers you'd be better off rewriting the code in C++. For example if you write a Vector class and overload the [] operator, all the macros will still work! In the book, they type a vector simply as array of float, ie a pointer, so a macro like:
#define sub_vec2(ab, a, b)\ /* 2D vector subtraction */
( (ab)[0] = (a)[0] - (b)[0],\
(ab)[1] = (a)[1] - (b)[1] )
will still work with your class if you overload the [] operator, even though the macro was originally intended for float arrays!
As said above, you get the same performance implementing the 3D operations (+,-,scale, magnitude, normalize etc) as member functions rather than (harder to debug) macros.
A basic understanding of math and vectors/matrices would be an advantage before reading this book, but the equations are well explained.
In a nutshell, this book is DEFINITELY worth a read, just don't expect to be able to write a cutting edge 3D engine from what you learn 8^)
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