C++ for Game Programmers (Charles River Media Game Development) [Illustrated] [Paperback]

The subjects selected for the book show that the author has a good level of experience in applying what he is talking about. He is basically passing along what he has learned from his own (and other people's) errors. All the subjects are pertinent and well explained. Sometimes he will over develop his explanations, showing why other solutions are not great before actually giving you the right one, but overall the text is easy to read and digest. The book is not overly long either, at the detriment that you wouldn't mind a little more info on some topics, but what is missing can easily be found in other, popular C++ reference manuals. One other negative point that comes to mind is that much of this information could be dug up for free on the net (a lot of it on Gamasutra.com), but it is all the same practical to have it condensed together in a single volume.

I have always avoided programming books with "game" anywhere in the title because, up until now, they have all been truly awful rip-offs. This book has actually delivered what it promised and I'm sure it will be a constant reference for me over the next several months.

So, to sum up, most of the info you need, clearly written and not too long-winded. A good read even for those of you already using C++ for games - there may well be a warning in here regarding a problem that is waiting to trip you up in your own projects. For those like me, moving up to C++ from C, I recommend this book very highly.

At first glance, just flicking through the pages it was obvious that the book had some serious content.

Having read the book, it's now official. Don't expect this book to teach you C++ - there's a million and one books already out there that will. This book teaches you how to fine tune everything you've learnt and subjectively analyses where performance is gained, and where it is lost. Well written and easy to read, you wont be blinded by science along the way, but it's none too sluggish either. Although aimed at games programmers, this book is useful to anyone in the field of performance computing.

I've just recently purchased a few books on various game dev subjects and this is the book I chose for C++, the book is excellently written, I found it so easy to read through and took absolutely everything in, there was no problems understanding any concepts ideas and I already understand all this fancy gadgetry that C++ has which, 2 weeks ago would've left me puzzled and wondering what the hell does that syntax mean. Thanks to this book I can easily work my mindset to work with OOP, or if I have any need to still work with procedural C.

The book rocks, well written, easy to understand, useful info and very suited to not only game dev but also other high performance software applications, it covers the more advanced C++ features so don't expect to jump straight into it from a procedural or non-programming background (Admittedly I had looked at C++ previously but only short tutorials, so knew about the basics like classes etc.), but the background you do need is minimal, just a few hours reading C++ tutorials around the net will do. If you know about classes etc. and need to better understand OOP structure, optimizations and more advanced details like templates etc. then get this book, it'll take you from a novice/intermediate C++ programmer to someone who knows how to use the language well and proper in around 400 pages.

Arm yourself with this and The C++ Programming Language, Special Edition (THE book to have as a C++ developer) and you'll be sorted.