How to be a game programmer and developer?

[GüntherJung]

Hello :) .I am new in this forum and i am really interested in programming.I really want to learn to program with Cuda, C++ you know. I want to make my own game engines and 3D games with stunning grafiks. I saw really interesting things in the Nvidia developer zone like Nvidia PhysX SDK, OpenGL, OpenCL, DirectX and many other stuff. I want to learn how to program with them and for what and how can i use it? What i must learn first? From what i must start? What book's i must read of i am new to software and game programming? I am really confused. Thank's :D .

[joddie191]

Ok you said that you haven't read the whole topic. Yes i think it's true, because there are many reasons why i haven't started a course of computer science of something other.You will se in the topic the reasons, but i will tell them in this post: 1st: I am 13 years old so i can't go to college or univercity, 2nd: in december i had to go to school. I am in vacation from i can say the begginning of july, but we've finished the year in thr 15 of june, but i had work so my vacation started from the bugginning of july, 3th: I have no idea where in Bulgaria are good courses for computer science, programming etc. 4th: I don't have the money for that.

And i thing the books are great. Why you don't like them? Ok for effective c++ and/or stl it is possible, because you can learn these things from other books or alone i thing, but the books from the creator of c++? And C++ Primer Plus for me is not so bad. It covers so many stuff, but for now i am 100% sure if it's good or not. I thing i will understand the stuff in the book, because you see i can program alone a tic-tac-toe and the new version of it with the help of the forum :) .

I don't know about any of the books as I haven't read them, I just dislike them in general because they are very static. The last book I read on this topic was "Algorithms in C++" (http://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-C-Robert-Sedgewick/dp/0201510596) - and probably the only C++ related book I would recommend to anyone. The book provides a comprehensive collection of classic algorithms for sorting, searching, parsing, geometrical manipulation, and more and uses C++ for the code examples which are always well commented and explained.

Anyhow, the thing is: everything is available on the internet. Why have your nose in a book when there's online tutorials, videos, downloadable code examples and a huge community to ask when you get stuck.

Since going to classes is a few years away for you, teach yourself as much as you can of the basics now. By the time you are ready to take higher education you will know a lot of the stuff already and get an edge on your other classmates. In addition you will probably discover that the first language taught in Universities is Java, C# or something else that is not C++.

A quick search tells me there are at least 10 universities or similar in Bulgaria, for instance, check out http://www.tu-sofia.bg/index.html

[Andre S. Veteran]

Aham. Ok what do you thing about this:

1st: C++ Primer Plus

2nd: The C++ Programming Language Special Edition

3th:Effective C++ and STL books

I thing this is the perfect path for learning C++. C++ Primer Plus covers so many stuff. I haven't hear more than 50% from them. The second book and the effective C++ and STL books help you master the language. What do you thing about my choice?

I suggest you read C++ Primer Plus first and decide what other books to read after. You don't have to choose now and you'll be able to make a better choice with the knowledge you will have acquired from that book.

[Tender Foot]

A good article from one of ArenaNet Devs http://www.arena.net/blog/how-to-make-it-as-a-game-designer

[CentralDogma]

Here's another exercise you can try.

There's a Java implementation on the second page, but I would suggest you try your own version before looking.

[GüntherJung]

I suggest you read C++ Primer Plus first and decide what other books to read after. You don't have to choose now and you'll be able to make a better choice with the knowledge you will have acquired from that book.

Yes this books gives you eveything primer that you must know. And it can be used for other languages, because it will teach you the fundamental stuff of programming, but with C++. For other languages you must just learn the syntax, standard libraries etc if you know C++ Primer Plus, but just reading it won't be enough to understand everything in the book. The most important thing is to practice everything that you have learned from this book. It's really long, 1200 pages, but i thing it's worth reading it.