Product Description

C++ for Game Programmers, second edition is a completely updated and expanded edition of this best-selling reference. As with the first edition, the book is not intended to replace foundational C++ books and reference material: instead, it supplements them by putting everything into perspective from a game-development point of view. The book points out the most effective C++ practices and steers you away from the potentially dangerous ones. It describes common C++ techniques to solve specific problems most game developers face. The second edition includes a wide variety of new, improved examples and illustrations, while preserving the core material from inheritance, performance, memory management, and STL to object creation, object serialization, and scripting languages. In addition, three new chapters have been added to meet the needs of today's game programmers. The first new chapter, C++ Design Patterns, covers the high-level problem-solving constructs that are most commonly found in games and other interactive applications. After the introductory chapters on the Standard Template Library, you'll find a new chapter, Beyond STL: Custom Structures and Algorithms, which provides a detailed hands-on discussion of using C++ to create efficient solutions to difficult problems in a highly structured manner. Finally, the new C++ and Scripting chapter covers the ever-increasing use of embedded scripting languages and the many ways scripting can increase productivity without compromising the power and philosophy of C++. This new edition will serve the needs of game programmers better than ever, and provide those who are new to C++ or new to game development with the techniques they need to get up and running quickly.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21605 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 500 pages

Customer Reviews

Excellent next step in C++
I've been a professional coder for eight years now and have just finished a BSc in Games Computing. I recently went for an interview at a Games Development studio and was shocked by how much of the C++ test I didn't know. The majority of C++ books on the market either deal with the 'first 21 days' - then leave you dry - or, they just tackle one specific topic in more depth than one could need.

This book is different. In the first three chapters I learnt more real knowledge about inheritance, references and their performance impacts than ever before. Each subject has so far been tackled clearly and concisely with good code illustrations of each topic.

If only all C++ books were like this one...

excellent!!!
wow.. agree completely with the poster above.

Im a student in my second year of a computer games development degree.

I feel as though ive just gained a MASSIVE headstart against my fellow students! It almost makes me feel guilty if i dont go and tell everyone i know on my course to get this book aswell!

Full of EXCELLENT advice, and packed full of tips.

Before now i knew the theory, and accepted it, but never really knew ...why??...or how topics actually fitted into the bigger picture. This book answers all those questions, and then arms you with some fantastic tips and tricks to not only understand topics in a game development context (which alone would be fantastic), but also shows you how to wrestle topics to the ground and squeeze every last drop of real-time game efficiency out of them.

The holy grail for game programmers who know some theory but want to explore!

Essential C++ book
This is one of the best books I've read on C++. Maybe it's one of the best programming books I've ever read. If you know C++ from other books and if you've already wrote a few programs yourself, then this is the best choice to take things a step further.

One of the good things about this book is that it never gets academic. Neither does it get too elaborate. The writer comes straight to the point and manages to explain things without overdoing it.

I can recommend this book to non-C++ and non-game programmers also. There's a lot to learn about the inner workings of memory, compilers, assertions, runtime type information, etc.

One very useful chapter that you don't see often in C++ books is "Dealing with large projects". This chapter contains excellent advice on project structuring and build process optimisation.

Highly recommended!