Art of Computer Programming and some random rambling

Published May 02, 2006
Advertisement
I just got a copy of this three book set because I realized that not only would what I learn help me with my love of little projects like the XGameStation, but would make me better at coming up with quick algorithms and just make my code better. I have been slogging slowly through the difficult math, as I'm only 16, and haven't had calculus, or anything beyond algebra II. Giant sigmas are scary.

I have a lot of time to learn this stuff though, because I'm homeschooled and can have as much time to learn math as I want. My dad works in academia, so he's really cool about getting me books that I want. The next comp. sci. related book I'm going to get is code complete, because one of my biggest demotivators is having little clue how to design my game projects. After that, I'll probably wait until the newest revision of the Dragon Book comes out and buy that.

Totally unrelated, but I'm going to be moving to Alabama soon, to a college town called Montevallo, which is about 20 minutes from Birmingham. My dad is going to be president of the University of Montevallo, which is really cool. I'll be living on campus in the prez house, which is great because even though they're a Liberal Arts school, they have lots of Computer Science courses. Also, I'll probably try to take some drawing and some music composition classes, since those are other interests of mine.

Even more unrelated is that I just bought this sexy mouse. It's so awesome.
Next Entry Hou zhou bu jien
0 likes 4 comments

Comments

choffstein
Hey man, don't fret too much about the math stuff. In the beginning, I just memorized a lot of it (as far as 3d graphics are concerned). Now that I am taking courses like multi-variable calculus, discrete math, and matrix algebra, a lot more of the graphics theory stuff makes sense, as well as the computer science theory.

I don't really know what stage of the game you are at, but I would recommend you do the same. As you take more and more math courses, everything will begin falling into place.

Now, as far as the dragon book goes...it may be a bit above your head at this moment. Then again, I really don't know your skill set, but I know what it goes deep into CS Theory. What I would recommend would be "Game Scripting Mastery." Now, it isn't technically creating a compiler, but I read it first, and I created a compiler for a scripted langauge, and it helped me understand the basics before I jumped into actual compiler theory (which I often find myself still boggled with).

Good luck with the move!
May 02, 2006 12:49 PM
Drakkcon
Thanks a lot for the advice!

I do plan on taking some more math courses, and I'm sure once I do I'll be able to understand a lot more of this.

As for your book recommendation, after looking at it, it looks a whole lot better for me than the Dragon Book (and a lot cheaper). It seems to focus more on what I'm interested in, like designing a mod-friendly engine, and making a VM.

Thanks a lot
May 02, 2006 01:26 PM
Balaam
Code Complete is an excellent book. Infact I just finished it two days ago :D

You might want to look into a software engineering book if you want to know the "how" of designing a game. I'm not sure which the best book is but "Software Engineering and Computer Games: Learn Software Engineering by Computer Game Design with Windows MFC and OpenGL", helped. Though why anyone would write a book like this using MFC and a particular graphics library is a mystery :D
May 02, 2006 05:53 PM
Drakkcon
Isn't Code Complete a book about software engineering =)

Thanks for that book suggestion though, I'll look into it.
May 02, 2006 09:46 PM
You must log in to join the conversation.
Don't have a GameDev.net account? Sign up!
Profile
Author
Advertisement

Latest Entries

..............

549 views

Untitled

954 views

Untitled

976 views

Back

971 views

I'm finally back

1005 views

Random updates

879 views

Hou zhou bu jien

907 views

Update

997 views
Advertisement