Hi, Well I'm a beginner Java programmer and I'm interested in learning how maths is used in game development, the problem is that all of the good books relating to Game Development Maths are C++ oriented, and seeing as I don't know C++ it would be pretty difficult to understand what the book is trying to teach me, I've searched using google for webpages relating to Maths in Game Development using Java and I couldn't find anything. Could somebody suggest any books, webpages or methods that could aid me in learning Maths for Game Development? Thanks in Advance TomX [Edited by - TomX on September 21, 2004 2:21:58 PM]

Mathematics for 3D Game programming and Computer Graphics 2nd Edition by Eric Lengyel

Thats a very good book.

Agreed, Mathematics for 3D Game Programming & Computer Graphics is an awesome book... if you're out there Eric, good work :) I picked it up on a whim and was pleasantly surprised at how helpful it's been to both flesh out my math knowledge and to use as a reference.

Now, the book does use C++ for some examples (also ARB_vp and ARB_fp for shaders), though when it does it's just a bonus since the math is already explained. Also it's heavy on the mathematical notation (as it should be, being a math book) so if you're not entirely comfortable with all the notation it'll take that extra bit of work to really understand everything (similar to the amount of work you'd need to learn what the C++ in other books is trying to teach you)

Don't want to turn this into a Java/C++ thing, but Java and C++ aren't THAT different... You should be able to read the C and understand it if you know Java. It also couldn't hurt to learn C++ too... there's a reason why most game programming math books use C++ for examples - most game programming is done in C/C++. Also, learning things (pointers for example) in C/C++ can only help to enhance your understanding of Java and computers in general. While there's something to be said for starting out with a language like Java (easy, safe, and practical), there's also something to be said for starting with C or even assembly (learn how the computer actually works and being able to see how a language construct in a higher level language translates to the low level assembly/machine code). In my less-than-humble opinion, to become a great programmer you need to understand both.

Good luck!
-nohbdy

Thanks for all the advice people, I'll buy that book and learn some C++ to aid me in reading and understanding the book, hopefully this newly gained C++ knowledge will enable me to understand more advanced books.

Wow, I'm really happy so many of you have such good things to say about that book. I bought it a couple weeks ago on a whim. I've only read through the first couple of chapters though. I must say, the transition from 2d coordinates to 3d was very smooth. So far I'm very happy I picked up a copy of this!

- heap