Quote:Original post by Landshark
Wow, thanks for the extensive book lists!

The allowance isn't coming from MS, but yes I do work there. I didn't know about the library books being delivered to you...cool deal. Ravyne I'll PM you and toss you my alias.


Does anyone have a good list for C# books?

"Head First C#"
"Programming in the key of C#"
would be the ones I'd recommend if you are new to C#.
Actually, if you already know how to program in another language you can save yourself money and just download the free .net zero C# book from Petzold.
On the C++ side the only book I see missing is 4th edition of C++ Primer

Okay seeing how you see to be totally new to programming I'd actually start with this book since it walks you step by step using the latest and greatest C# stuff with VS2008:
Microsoft Visual C# 2008 Step by Step
This book will give you a good overview of what C# is good at and all the new stuff like WPF,Linq,etc but doesn't really teach you how to program with C#. To actually get a feel for what programming is like and if you will like it or be any good at it also get the head first C# book and try to actually do the 3 labs in the book. If you can do them then I'd say you are ready to tackle C++. If not don't even bother since C++ since you won't get far.
If you do make it to C++ though another book you will definitely need is a data structures book!
I use the Ron Penton one myself to look up stuff like linked list, binary trees, graphs,etc.


[Edited by - daviangel on July 1, 2008 3:51:41 AM]

Rapid Development for software schedule management.

If you are looking for a good way to get your feet wet in C++ and design some [text-based but still demonstrate concepts] games, I would recommend "Beginning C++ Through Game Programming: First Edition" which I found to be one of the best books for learning C++ and some game logic at the same time.

They take you from extremely easy to moderately-advanced really quick while teaching you good practices. I think after reading this book, you will most likely just need reference books for C++ as you won't need any more real concept teachings.

Just my two cents, people may disagree.

As for C#, I have been writing code in C# for nearly 3 years now and I have never read a book on it. There are so many online resources for learning it, but I think C# is a language that you really just need to screw around in, and when you can't figure something out, google it. There really isn't a step-by-step way to get good at C#.

Quote:Original post by DevFred

Quote:Original post by Landshark
I didn't know about the library books being delivered to you.

Before you buy any books, you should at least read a few pages from it in a library. Some books may be too advanced, others not advanced enough etc.
For example, I wouldn't recommend Exceptional C++ to a beginner. You won't understand anything.

As a beginner game programmer I bought GPU Gems, bad decision (although helping me more and more as I go along).

General C++: Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days

Game Project Management: Game Development Essentials: Game Project Management - This is a great general overview book on what a full game development cycle includes. It goes through concepting (word?), design, programming, promotion, distribution, etc... I was extremely happy with this book.

I had 2 classes on C#, forgot what I learned, and picked it up again easily a few years later. I wouldn't go crazy on buying a big C# book because the language is actually pretty simple (especially if you learn C++). C# is nice but the real only gaming application may be XNA unless you find some third-party system to use with it. XNA has plenty of tutorials online and most books I've seen would probably be a bit advanced to someone new to C# let alone XNA.

Quote:Original post by Jazonxyz
Dont waste your time with C#.

What's a waste about it? C# and .Net have a lot of real benefits. It doesn't fit for every project; C++ and other more-traditional languages don't either. Neither are mutually exclusive and you don't "graduate" from one to the other, so what's with the notion of superiority here?

Quote:Original post by programmermattc

Quote:Original post by DevFred

Quote:Original post by Landshark
I didn't know about the library books being delivered to you.

Before you buy any books, you should at least read a few pages from it in a library. Some books may be too advanced, others not advanced enough etc.
For example, I wouldn't recommend Exceptional C++ to a beginner. You won't understand anything.

As a beginner game programmer I bought GPU Gems, bad decision (although helping me more and more as I go along).

General C++: Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days

I'll agree that buying advanced books, particularly the "gems" style books, is a bad idea for a beginner; reason being, that the articles are very terse and most often without any concrete implimentation -- You need to have a solid foundation for them to have any value at all.

But the "Teach yourself X in 21 days" books are always bad. They're the kind of book I thought was great when I was 14 because it taught you the basics and gave you lots of sample code, but in my older, wiser age have come to realize what utter crap they really are. As a rule, books with this type of title should be left to collect dust on a bookstore shelf where they belong.

Quote:I had 2 classes on C#, forgot what I learned, and picked it up again easily a few years later. I wouldn't go crazy on buying a big C# book because the language is actually pretty simple (especially if you learn C++). C# is nice but the real only gaming application may be XNA unless you find some third-party system to use with it. XNA has plenty of tutorials online and most books I've seen would probably be a bit advanced to someone new to C# let alone XNA.

The general use of C# is pretty easy to grasp coming from a C++ or Java background. It took me all of 2 days to be able to produce code in it, coming from C++. What will get you, though, is the little differences -- boxing and unboxing, how the garbage-collector will behave, how to minimize your garbage.

XNA is fine if you are more Xbox-centric, otherwise SlimDX is the better choice if you're only concerned with the PC platform.

Quote:Original post by Ravyne
But the "Teach yourself X in 21 days" books are always bad. They're the kind of book I thought was great when I was 14 because it taught you the basics and gave you lots of sample code, but in my older, wiser age have come to realize what utter crap they really are. As a rule, books with this type of title should be left to collect dust on a bookstore shelf where they belong.

What did you find wrong with those books in particular? Just curious to see if I see the same thing in it now that I'm a bit more proficient than I used to be at the language. Aren't the basics what he should focus on and now jumping right into some API?

Quote:
XNA is fine if you are more Xbox-centric, otherwise SlimDX is the better choice if you're only concerned with the PC platform.

I wouldn't consider XNA an Xbox-centric API because you can specificially target the PC as well. While it was tuned down for Xbox, there are plenty of developers using XNA for PC-only games. I've never used SlimDX and the wiki makes it sound useful, but is biased against XNA GS in several spots and should be updated.