Advice on Game Programming Book

[JamesM]

* Design Patterns - often overemphasized, but chapter 2 in that book gives a great architecture for a complex piece of software. Really learning and understanding the techniques used will allow a programmer to write robust, extensible code.

IMO, a better introduction to design patterns would be to read Design Patterns Explained followed by Head First Design Patterns. Design Patterns is not exactly blessed with limpid prose. The chapter on applying design patterns to the text editor is very helpful, but it is not suitable for a beginner.

 

[epepke]

Honestly, as a sometimes hirer of programmers, I have little interest in somebody who is skilled in a particular technology such as DirectX. That can be learned, easily enough. Technology changes fast enough that a programmer who is going to be with your company for more than 6 months, or a single production cycle, is just going to have to learn new APIs, etc. It's a given. I'm far more interested in somebody who understands solid programming practices.

You should hire me, then. I'm looking for work, and most of the employers I've run across have exactly the opposite opinions. If you PM me, I can send you a resume. If you'd at least hand it around to people you know, I'd appreciate it.

With that said, if he is interested in 3D development, it can take a while to really understand what a graphic engine is doing, and if you don't understand it you end up "programming by magic". Which means you keep trying things until they work. Problem is, what you do may not work in all cases, or it may only work on certain cards, etc. if he really wants to get it, it might not be bad to write his own graphics engine. Yes, it will be slow and limited, but a basic engine that allows you to draw triangles and view it from any camera position will pretty much guarantee that he really understands the math, as long as he didn't cut and paste a bunch of code and then monkey with it until it "works".

This is how I cut my teeth a long time ago, starting with a Bresenham algorithm for the TRS-80 Model 1.

3D Game Engine Design is a good book, though.

 

[Garrette]

Thanks, roger. While I'm not a programmer, that post made sense to me.

As I said, I'll show him this thread after Christmas. (He'll be totally new to the forums; wonder what username he'll give himself).

And if epepke gets hired, I want a commission for bringing you two together.

We need JREF Bucks or something...

 

[Garrette]

Bump so my son can find it when he comes on this week (probably).

He was excited about both the Eberley book and the Java book but is looking at the Java book more right now as it is more accessible. I think the Eberly book expects higher maths than he's had yet, but he's game for trying.

I also copied this thread and had him read it in preparation for asking informed questions.

Thanks again.

P.S. His younger brother is reading them, too. He's 12.