Game Programming Patterns Paperback – November 2, 2014

A must-have for any software engineer, game industry or not

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D. Otero

November 5, 2014

Format: Paperback

TL;DR:

To understand the code and some of the more performance-oriented patterns, you must understand C/C++ pointers and memory model.

This book WILL give you:
- An excellent introduction to good software design and how to think about design issues.
- A great background in the notion of software design "patterns."
- An exploration of some key categories of problem that come up in software, and especially in games.
- A VERY detailed exploration of 19 concrete software patterns that are particularly useful in the hairiest parts of game programming.

This book will NOT:
- Teach you how to program.
- Give you specifics of working with a particular library, language, game engine, or platform.
- Give you a 100% complete architectural blueprint for your next game.

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This book is a gem, and should certainly be considered required reading for any new industry or hobbyist software engineer, regardless of whether they work on games.

"Game Programming Patterns" delivers, providing an in-depth look at the core engineering patterns used ubiquitously in games but seldom known outside of the games industry. Each pattern gets a full treatment, including everything from background to motivation to concrete examples of where the pattern would apply and where it might go awry. Each chapter also includes a healthy dose of discussion, including going into the trade-offs between each pattern and other possible approaches.

However, at its core, Game Programming Patterns is about much more than games. I find it to be one of the most accessible and most complete books on Software Design in general. The thorough examination of trade-offs and design decisions makes it a fantastic introduction to "good design" for any programmer. I HIGHLY recommend this, especially to new-ish programmers starting off in their first job (again, regardless of whether or not they work on games).

139 people found this helpful

Game Programming Demystified

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James Kelly

August 31, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is an awesome book that is a must have for any software developer. Though experienced with general programming building boring office software I had always wanted to make video games but always found the mere idea of writing a video game to be an intimidating venture but this book gave me confidence because the author presents the architecture of a game in an easy to understand matter not from an academic perspective but from a perspective of experience given the author used to be a developer with Electronic Arts. The author even mentions some caveats with the patterns presented under certain scenarios and then gives some ideas on how to work around them which is great for an over thinking over engineering fellow as myself. If this book were to have an alternate title it would be, in my opinion; "Game Programming Demystified."

Though the contents are available for free on the author's website I bought both the physical book and the Kindle version on release day to support the author's awesome work. As I recall the author started writing this on his own initiative while he worked at Electronic Arts and later published it in book form only after overwhelming demand. I am extremely appreciative of the author's generosity and him taking the time to share his industrial knowledge.

2 people found this helpful

- This book ages better than a more technical book because it decouples itself ...

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Otto

July 14, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

- a modern re-contextualization of the Gang of Four book.
- not a book for discovering new and exotic design patterns.
- a book that essentially goes through a list of GOF patterns and gives cleaner definitions and examples in the context of game development.
- explanations are not only clear, but the concepts in each chapter start with the naive implementation, then gradual design improvements are added along with examples of how re-usability and de-coupling is improved. It's also an iterative process where there is a story being told about how the code is improving at each step.
- Doesn't focus on a single project, or even smaller ones. There is no complete and running code in this book. It will give you examples of small problems that can be solved using the design patterns.
- This book ages better than a more technical book because it decouples itself from technology, and focuses on addressing how code is designed.
- There is a scary picture of the author on the back of the printed version.

3 people found this helpful

Do not hesitate to get this book.

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Most recent customer reviews

Christopher D.

Nystrom has blown me away with his head first leap into Game Programming Patterns which quickly present ideas that are not only useful in the context of making video games but...Read more

Published 1 month ago

ali kutluozen

Definitely helps you become a better software engineer overall. Friendly, clean, informative, beautiful.

I read this book 2 years ago, during my senior year in college. It definitely helped me become a better software engineer overall as a lot of the concepts in the book can be...Read more

Published 1 month ago

Great reference for game programming

This book is good for people who like to program video games from scratch. It is also useful to help understand how game engines work under the hood.

Published 2 months ago

Frankie Fasola

Five Stars

The book blends general programming with game programming and explains it well.

Published 6 months ago

@GroupOfFour

Good book for the 'in-the-grass' C++ or C# game programmer/designer

Overall, this is a good book on Game Programming Patterns. GPP, which if you don't know, is simply the repetitive things that can be found in most games and this book explains...Read more

Published 6 months ago

Extremely useful and easy to read regardless of your specific programming niche.

Taught me some extremely useful concepts and it doesn't read as some overly technical manual. Everything is explained extremely well and is kept simple and generalized for...Read more

Published 6 months ago

Guide on how a problem can be solved, finding flaws and improving existing code. Fun to read.

Not only that the book informs the reader by using very specific examples when applying various patterns, but the author made sure the reader is guided from finding the proper...Read more

Published 7 months ago

Cash A. Echevarria

Note quite perfect.

A real technical read. Not for beginners or people having difficulty with the material. If you understand programming this book helps you with the knowledge you already know.Read more

Published 7 months ago