Beginning C++ Through Game Programming 3rd Edition

When I first read the title I thought I was going to program small simple games like tic tac toe with a GUI, but when reading this book I realized that everything is a WIN32 project and nothing to do with GUI'S at all, which makes this book, not so much game programming as I thought it would be.Yes there are still games that you can create through the Command Line such as guessing a number games but nothing that is actually a game with a GUI. If your looking for GUI programming then this is not the book for you. If your looking for an introduction on C++ keep reading.As I was reading this book I noticed that this book is a great tutorial, me programing in other languages for school such as C and Visual Basic and Java, I already knew the concept of strings, integers arrays and more that is in this book. But what this book did is it broke it down and explained what strings, integers arrays do in a non boring way which made this book fun to read. The way it was written and how it was explained actually taught me a few things about Loops and how to code in C++. I like this book a lot even as a beginning C++ book because it shows me what wording I need to use in C++ to declare substrings and more, and it explains a lot about strings which other books do not cover. I would suggest this book to someone way before they bought any other book even if they have never programmed before because it will break it down thoroughly and explain it to you in a way that you might actually learn a thing or too. I have the kindle version and the code is easy to read and he does tell you where you can download the code before he even shows you the code. He also shows you the outcome before the code which I think is better because I like to try to figure out how to get his outcome without looking at his code. Then I compare my code to his. (But thats just my opinion) Anyway this book is a book I would buy so you can learn C++ even if you have programmed other languages before.

Yes, the book is authored in a way that goes straight to the point, and is learning in an easy and enjoyable way. Effort is needed from the Student, of course. C++ is not an easy to learn programming language(it takes you to all the object-oriented thing and force you to go in that direction)and this is not the first C++ learning book that I've bought and many times they are so obscure and written in a doomed long clauses and sub-clauses that you even wonder if you are reading english anymore or a book from a distinc language that is no what you would call normal English and tend to be confussing and even when that books go further on theory, at the second chapter you are lost in between such dark concepts; Michael Dawson goes the contrary way, and I write this because I don't like when computer experts try to sound too complicatad and there are a lot out there, believe me. (I send the obscure ones to the public library where no matter how, they will find their road to be useful to someone , but as I have had and I still keep the good ones with me, this book is the best of its genre by far, but you must keep in mind that it teatches you what is intended, that is to programm games, not other kind of work.Michael Dawson uses a clear and natural language without large clauses who would have fall into the zone of failing to explain what he is so good to do at: teaching you C++. The point is that sometimes I have acquired books with so a twisted, verborreic style that you were unable to form a frame on what the author was talking about (It has happened me three times, with Java-related books.So that if you want to go straight on and start studying and hard-working on C++ this is your book.

I am a beginner, but already this book is full of dog ears and is getting a real beating as I take it with me everywhere.In other words, it's actually useful and has some great examples, not just of C++ code and how it works and how to use it, but every single example in the book has something to do with games. Just the section on random number generation alone is worth the price of admission, in my opinion, because it's a topic that is rarely covered in regular C++ programming books, however it's pretty much mandatory for games. Other topics include keeping track of a player's inventory using arrays, keeping track of units on the battlefield using vectors, and using iterators to manipulate data in arrays and vectors. It also goes into functions, parameters, classes and derivation and polymorphism.The book starts off with your typical "Hello World!" app, but in this case it's the "Game Over!" app. While the first chapter is really easy, the author wastes no time in ramping up the complexity, throwing more and more concepts at you and by 1/3 of the way through the book, you really have to think and practice to keep up - if you are a beginner like me - but the effort is worthwhile. You may actually use some of the code in your own game, and you WILL learn the fundamentals of C++. The last chapter takes EVERYTHING you learned in the previous chapters and puts it all into one game: BlackJack. It's more complicated than you might think, and that is good!)However, the book does have some drawbacks. Namely it's a beginning C++ book. There is no mention of mice, game controllers, 2d graphics, 3d graphics, OpenGL, DirectX, game engines, or the like. Also, there isn't any mention of how to save or retrieve files and data from a hard drive. All of the applications are console applications (basically a DOS-like window) so you are going to have to learn a lot more if you want to do games with any kind of graphics. Also, there is a appendix on how to set up your IDE and compiler, but it's not in the main text. (It takes a bit of work, but you'll get it).Having said that, it is what it is, and what it is it does very well. You won't walk away from this book saying you didn't get a full primer on C++ that is directly applicable to game design. (The logic behind the graphics!)The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it doesn't go into saving or retrieving files, but other than that it's an excellent book to get you up to speed with real C++.(Call it 4 1/2 stars. Bottom line: it's worth the money)