Game Programming Patterns Kindle Edition

TL;DR:

To understand the code and some of the more performance-oriented patterns, you must understand C/C++ pointers and memory model.

This book WILL give you:
- An excellent introduction to good software design and how to think about design issues.
- A great background in the notion of software design "patterns."
- An exploration of some key categories of problem that come up in software, and especially in games.
- A VERY detailed exploration of 19 concrete software patterns that are particularly useful in the hairiest parts of game programming.

This book will NOT:
- Teach you how to program.
- Give you specifics of working with a particular library, language, game engine, or platform.
- Give you a 100% complete architectural blueprint for your next game.

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This book is a gem, and should certainly be considered required reading for any new industry or hobbyist software engineer, regardless of whether they work on games.

"Game Programming Patterns" delivers, providing an in-depth look at the core engineering patterns used ubiquitously in games but seldom known outside of the games industry. Each pattern gets a full treatment, including everything from background to motivation to concrete examples of where the pattern would apply and where it might go awry. Each chapter also includes a healthy dose of discussion, including going into the trade-offs between each pattern and other possible approaches.

However, at its core, Game Programming Patterns is about much more than games. I find it to be one of the most accessible and most complete books on Software Design in general. The thorough examination of trade-offs and design decisions makes it a fantastic introduction to "good design" for any programmer. I HIGHLY recommend this, especially to new-ish programmers starting off in their first job (again, regardless of whether or not they work on games).

I must chime in with the others. This book is a fantastic book for programming in general, not just for games. It has a crystal clear look at how to be the benevolent architect of a very complicated piece of software without getting lost in exactly how your particular language does something. The code samples are technically C++, but are written so cleanly and stripped of all unnecessary parts that it feels like pseudo-code.

Also, you can read the whole thing online right now. It's funny, it's an unbelievable game-maker spirit animal guide, it'll make your code better. Go there, use it, and come back and buy a copy.

I bought the hard copy because I wanted this guy to get something for his incredible effort. Also, it looks pretty, and as he says, "doesn't need batteries". On that note, it's incredibly well typeset and laid out.

I couldn't be happier with the book.

For those writing games or other high-performance applications, this is a good book on design patterns that are useful in every application. After reading it through, I realized some of the patterns I have been using without realizing it. There are numerous references to other books, including the 'Gang of Four' book on Design Patterns, which will go over many of the topics mentioned here in more detail. In fact, before jumping into the Gang of Four, this might be a good book to read, as Robert Nystrom goes into depth on how some of the patterns are and are not suited for games. I have found that many business programs would also benefit from some of these patterns - batch programs specifically - because of their emphasis on performance trade-offs with code maintainability, reuse, and extensibility. If you are a budding software architect or a software developer looking to understand why certain algorithms and design aspects look familiar, this book will work for you. If you are a more experienced programmer looking to put names on the logical patterns you have used most of your career, this book will help you to do that.

Many of us get into programming because we want to write games. Some of us go through with that, while others take other jobs to pay the bills. No matter which type of person you are, Game Programming Patterns is a definite keeper in your library or on your Kindle

This is an awesome book that is a must have for any software developer. Though experienced with general programming building boring office software I had always wanted to make video games but always found the mere idea of writing a video game to be an intimidating venture but this book gave me confidence because the author presents the architecture of a game in an easy to understand matter not from an academic perspective but from a perspective of experience given the author used to be a developer with Electronic Arts. The author even mentions some caveats with the patterns presented under certain scenarios and then gives some ideas on how to work around them which is great for an over thinking over engineering fellow as myself. If this book were to have an alternate title it would be, in my opinion; "Game Programming Demystified."

Though the contents are available for free on the author's website I bought both the physical book and the Kindle version on release day to support the author's awesome work. As I recall the author started writing this on his own initiative while he worked at Electronic Arts and later published it in book form only after overwhelming demand. I am extremely appreciative of the author's generosity and him taking the time to share his industrial knowledge.

This book is guaranteed to give you an epiphany or two regardless of how experienced you are in software architecture.
Don't let the modest title and price fool you, this book culminates some of the best ideas of the best software and game programming design patterns from dozens of the very best books that span thousands of pages, in a little over three hundred pages of material that is set to make you think about your design and decisions without coddling you or delving into minutiae.
If you care about efficiency and performance in practice in modern systems while retaining beautiful and manageable code, this book is guaranteed to give you valuable insight.

Bob Nystrom writes in a friendly, clear, and concise style that makes important things known while reading in an entertaining fashion that conceals the fact that it's easily one of the most important reference books of our time.
Easily stands next to the original Design Patterns, if not completely overshadowing it.