Game Programming Patterns by Robert Nystrom (PDF)

Description

The biggest challenge facing many game programmers is completing their game. Most game projects fizzle out, overwhelmed by the complexity of their own code. Game Programming Patterns tackles that exact problem. Based on years of experience in shipped AAA titles, this book collects proven patterns to untangle and optimize your game, organized as independent recipes so you can pick just the patterns you need.You will learn how to write a robust game loop, how to organize your entities using components, and take advantage of the CPUs cache to improve your performance. You’ll dive deep into how scripting engines encode behavior, how quadtrees and other spatial partitions optimize your engine, and how other classic design patterns can be used in games.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I will start by saying this book is game programming GOLD! Whether you are a pro or a novice looking to learn, this book deserves to place on your shelf (or I guess in memory if you buy the e-book). While some of the chapters may seem like obvious things for people that have programmed games before, I think even advanced coders will discover a few things they didn’t know.So let me talk about what this book is. Basically it covers common challenges in game programming and some useful ways of resolving the problem. Though the theme of the book is game development, a lot of this stuff is applicable to any sort of visual or object-oriented programming. Nystrom starts by revisiting the classic design patterns popularized by the seminal book by the “gang of four” in 1994. Surprisingly, 20 years later a lot of those ideas still hold up. Next he moves onto more game specific topics like double buffering (not just for graphics), a game loop, and updating objects. Then he goes into bytecode (really a simple compiler), components, event queues, singletons, object pools, dirty flag and spatial partitioning. It’s actually not the longest book out there at 354 pages, but this is a breathe of fresh air after persevering through The C++ Programming Language (which was great, just very long). The author does not waste pages, though. There are nuggets of knowledge littered throughout the text.One thing I like is how the book is not tied to a particular API or library. The pseudo-code is in C++, but really you could implement the ideas in almost any language. He even goes as far as not using the STL (for example, rolling his own linked list for a few examples). In a real application, you would probably not want to reinvent the wheel for basic containers, but it’s nice that the examples stand alone without any nasty dependencies. I could see a lot of the code here being copied into a real game and being usable with only minor additions. Well, of course you have to modify for your platform or engine or whatever, but the concepts are solid.Another point is that this makes design patterns concrete (please, no abstract class jokes…). I read the original Design Patterns book years ago but some of the patterns never made sense to me. They were too abstract and, though interesting, sometimes didn’t click for me. This book, on the other hand, clicked the whole way through. Everything made sense, and was immediately clear why it was useful. Sure, I’ve probably learned a lot in the past few years, making Game Programming Patterns more approachable. But I think almost any game coder (or aspiring coder) could get value from this book. I’d give it 5 stars, 10 out of 10, 2 thumbs up, and definite “buy it now.”

⭐I was very intrigued by this book, but upon reading through a free chapter on Kindle, I initially decided not to buy it, mainly because it’s C++ based. Alas, my having too little CompSci background to be able to effectively generalize from other programming languages onto my current modest knowledge of C# was entirely to blame here. The book itself is fairly priced at $19 for a Kindle edition… or FREE OF CHARGE, since it can be accessed online for free at www.gameprogrammingpatterns.com as Robert Nystrom, the author, magnanimously points out on p.3 !. It is written in a very structured and succinct manner, reliably employing relevant GameDev examples, drawings and code, and covering a total of 19 design, sequencing, behavioural, decoupling and optimization patterns. Each chapter consists of a definition of the pattern and the problem it wishes to address, advice on when to apply it, possible caveats and downsides, as well as sample code (in C++, much to my chagrin). After reading through another chapter online I decided to buy the book, as it’s a solid piece of literature, the free online version really knocked me off my feet, being inline with the principle of free learning opportunities I adhere to and greatly admire in others (e.g. Unity) and who knows… I might one day go even crazier and start learning C++ and UE4 !?

⭐THIS is the “programming pattern” book I’ve been looking for for ages. Yes, it says “Game” in the title, and some of the patterns are certainly more geared towards gaming, but many, if not most, of the patterns covered in the book are patterns you’ll use every day for application development.I’ve been looking for a programming pattern book for years, and there are quite a few out there, but most of them seem to be written as if the authors are just trying to stroke their own egos with how many $5 words they can cram into a single sentence. I’ve yet to manage to muscle through ANY other programming book out there without being comatose by the 2nd chapter.This book is easy to read, and breaks things down in an easy to understand way, even going so far as to explicitly describe the REASONS behind the naming conventions (for instance, WHY are “components” called “components?”). The book is just indescribably well written, and I was able to read through the entire thing, creating my own demos as I went, within a week. I’ve learned that many of the patterns I’ve ended up just stumbling across, and using regularly, actually have names (for instance, the flyweight pattern). Others I’d heard about, but never understood why or where to use them (LinkedLists come to mind. Now I use them all OVER the place). Then there’s patterns I’d heard of, and wanted to use, but was never able to understand how to implement them (the builder pattern is my favorite, and I will probably end up overusing it). Finally, there are patterns in here I’d never heard of, and can’t wait to use (the chapter on Decoupling code using Components is particularly interesting, and I’m re-reading it now to get a more firm grasp).All said, one of the best programming design books out there. I would strongly recommend it for all developers, even senior developers, whether you’re writing games or applications, there’s something in here for you.

⭐I read a lot of technical books, but this one has really risen to the top for me. It covered the ground I expected it to cover, and gave me lots to think about in both the games I make and even just general software development. It has now been many months since I finished it, and I keep finding myself referring back to things I saw and learned in this book. Add on top of that, the style of writing kept me very engaged.This book was well worth both the cost (it was surprisingly cheap) and the time to work through it. One of the best technical books I’ve read.

⭐I am 14 years old and I have been doing game development for over a year. I have probably read about up to 50 books on game developmet/programming but this is definitely the best. I understand this book perfectly and looking forward to implementing these patterns/theory into my games. I strongly recomend reading this book as you will come back to it repeatedly and you will learn A LOT. I really wish I read this book earlier. Anybody, young or old, asiring to beome a successful game developer should read this book.Thank you @Robert Nystrom for creating this wonderful book.P.S. Although, to gain a good understnding of this book you should be at an intermediete level in programming(in any language)as this book teaches you programmng methods/theory.

⭐This is not a game programming book – it won’t walk you through writing a game… BUT it cleverly goes through the programming techniques with the thought processes that a game programmer would have, and using game situations as examples.As a result, I understood a lot more about why and how game engines work (previously they were a bit of a black box for me) *and* saw how some of these high performance techniques applied in non-game situations.Special praise for the even handedness of the approach. For every technique the author gives multiple variations, and full lists of pros and cons. Recommended for all programmers interested in performance.

⭐Very nice book, goes into just enough detail to give you the concepts but leaves you to think about improvements, extensions or potential uses outside the ones listed. The patterns are classic programming patterns but given a slight twist of game dev. The author does a good job of explaining the patterns and how/where/why they might be used as well as some potential pitfalls. If you want extensive detail on game engines or how to make your first game this isn’t the book, but it doesn’t claim to be! The patterns within would be a great help to any budding C/C++/Java game developer (as well as many other mainly OOP based languages I’m sure). Don’t expect to be able to write the next AAA title after reading this but you can be sure that your understanding of how games (and their code more specifically) are generally organised. Some of the patterns I felt could have been elaborated on a bit more but overall this book is a great read for anyone looking to get into game development.

⭐Read it in three days – that’s how easy is to read. Having said that, it’s worth reading twice, thrice and so on, because you will want to come back to fully understand each pattern individually, and then, back again, to understand how they can work together, and then again to relate to other patterns outside of the scope of this book.It will also help you to understand Game Engines (e.g. Unity), how they work underneath the surface and editor. How to optimize them and use the best of both worlds. Finally, it will refer to some nice concepts (data-oriented programming) and misconceptions (misuse of singletons).Really enjoyed reading it and will do so again as soon as possible.

⭐Fantastic book and really helps to organise your coding.I’ve found this boom very easy to read, the author uses humour to help keep this book from being dull and I find this book gives you the key concepts needed without bombarding you with useless/ non relevant information.The script used in the book is C++ but can be adapted for other languages easily as the author has tried to accommodate for other languages by giving you the concepts.A must read if you are wanting to write your own games/ programs

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