SG310 - Notes and Resources

Text: "Core Techniques and Algorithms in Game Programming" by Daniel Sanchez-Crespo Daimau


General Hacker Stuff

The Jargon File 
This is the place to go to learn 'hacker-speak' if you're so inclined.  There's also a print version but the online one is updated more frequently. 

IBM DeveloperWorks - A great resource for developers, with articles, tutorials and links to software.

Object-Orientation Tips - A neat page with a ton of information about OOP

Guru of the Week - a regular series of C++ programming problems created and written by Herb Sutter.

O'Reilly.Net - An excellent source of programming tips/tricks/articles for just about every platform you can think of.

Dr. Dobbs - If you're planning on being a professional software developer, this is a magazine you need to know about - plenty of great articles and tutorials.  (I recommend subscribing, but you can get a lot of the content from their Web site if you prefer.)  In continuous publication since 1976, this is possibly the most long-lived computer publication ever.

Top-Coder.com - If you're interested in showing your stuff, here's a place where programmers get together and compete in coding contests online.

Course-Related Links

Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures - Straight from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).  

Game Tutorials - A good guide to game programming techniques.

Gamedev.net - As the name implies, a site for game developers to share and discuss techniques and algorithms. (Hosted on IIS, so may not always be available.)

Gamasutra - (Free registration required) - Another site for game developers to share techniques.

flipcode - Though this site is no longer maintained, the articles and discussions can be found in the archives and contain useful information.

Generation5 - A site discussing AI programming techniques and algorithms.  It has some information about the A* algorithm, which we will be covering in class.

Game Development

Irrlicht - A free, open-source realtime 3D engine. Fully cross-platform, written in C++ and available for .NET.

Free Game Programming Libraries and Code - Just what it says.

DevMaster.net - Online source for game development

The Game AI Page - A good reference for building smarts into your games.

Cross-Platform Game Development for C++ Developers - A good overview of cross-platform game engines, many of which are free.

Open Source Gaming

(One of the best ways to learn how to code is by reading someone else's code. This section is meant as a resource for a wide variety of games that have source code freely available.)

Cube - A basic First Person Shooter game, similar to Quake 3. What makes this useful is that the code is freely available so you can learn how to code a game like this yourself and even adapt the code for your own use.

Open Source Gaming - A nifty site devoted to open source games for multiple platforms in various languages.

Open Directory: Games - A page of links to open source games and game development projects.

Home of the Underdogs - Yet another collection of links to open source gaming projects.

Tools

CuteWriter - A free PDF convertor for Windows.  It lets you create PDF files from any Windows application that can print.  Very useful for  creating cross-platform documents.

Dia - a free, cross-platform technical drawing tool.  (This site only supplies the Windows version.)

OpenOffice.org- The OpenOffice.org project is producing a free, open-source competitor to Microsoft Office.  OpenOffice.org can read and write Microsoft Office files and has database and drawing tools as well.  Bonus features: built-in export to PDF and the ability to export presentation files to Flash format.

Essays on Programming and the Profession

How to Interview a Programmer - This is an discussion with several industry veterans about techniques they use to find the best qualified programmers for a project.

The Lost Art of Computer Programming - An intriguing page of essays by a professional programmer who became one "by accident".

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist - A book that attempts to live up to its title. The language used is Python but the lessons are easily applied to other programming languages.

How to Write Unmaintainable Code - This tongue-in-cheek essay is a guide to writing maintainable code and is an amusing and informative read.

Deleting Code - A deceptively simple essay on what to do with code you're no longer using. (It's more subtle than you may think. A recommended read. )

The Pragmatic Programmer - Homepage of the book of the same name, this site also contains excerpts from the book as well as essays from the authors on the profession. Highly recommended.

The Tao of Programming - A well-done, tongue-in-cheek look at computer programming in terms of Eastern mysticism.

Quotes on Program Development - Like the title says....

Code and Personality - How to tell what kind of person you are from looking at your code.

Problem-Solving Strategies - Not specifically about programming, but a good set of rules-of-thumb for dealing with technical problems.

How to Be a Programmer - This is a link to a 230 KB PDF file that summarizes the technical and non-technical things that the author (a Ph.D in Computer Science and professional programmer with 20 years of experience) wishes someone had explained to him at the beginning of his career. Good, clear writing with useful real-world tips.

Don't Live with Broken Windows - An interview by a pair of professional programmers (The authors of "The Pragmatic Programmer" seen above) about "software craftsmanship and the importance of fixing the small problems in your code, the 'broken windows,' so they don't grow into large problems. " This is Part 1 of a ten part series.

Orthogonality and the DRY Principle - Part 2 of the series - Andrew Hunt and Dave Thomas continue with their thoughts on program design. (Note: DRY stands for Don't Repeat Yourself)

Good Enough Software - Part 3 in the series - This interview is about "the myth of bug-free software".

Abstraction and Detail - Part 4 in the series - This interview discusses what the authors mean when they say "Put abstractions in code, details in metadata."

Building Adaptable Systems - Part 5 in the series - Reversible design decisions, making systems configurable

Programming Close to the Domain - Part 6 in the series - The benefits of coding in a language related to the business domain.

Programming is Gardening, Not Engineering - Part 7 in the series - The reasons coding is not a purely mechanical process

Tracer Bullets and Prototypes - Part 8 in the series - The importance of getting feedback during the development process

Programming Defensively - Part 9 in the series - Programming defensively against your own and other's mistakes.

 

Organizations/Projects

Mozilla - The Mozilla project is producing the next-generation Web platform.


Virtual Network Computing - Remote desktop software similar to PC-Anywhere, except it runs on every platform you can name and it's free.

General Resources

ComputerWorld - If you want to see how computers are really used in real businesses, this is a good source. Essentially an offshoot of Computerworld magazine (available as a free subscription if you can convince them that you influence buying decisions where you work) , this site is pretty platform independent and has a decent career section, as well as a 'gossip' column where actual IT folk write in anonymously and describe the various ways that management can screw up the techies.

Advogato - This is an interesting on-line discussion forum, mainly dealing with software development.

SoftPro Books - This is an excellent source for computer and networking books. You can order online or go to one of their local stores. (They have one at Yosemite and Arapahoe in Englewood and another in Boulder.) You can usually get 10-20% off the list price and if you join their 'frequent shoppers' club (it's free) you can get additional savings. 

Online References

Online Computer Dictionary - Stuck trying to figure out an acronym or computer term? This is a good site to look it up. 

Google - One of the best search engines out there for the technically inclined. 

igrep - advertised as the first search engine for technical people.

Just for Fun

Ubersoft - A funny comic strip about a mythical software/OS vendor located somewhere in the Pacific Northwest....

User Friendly - Yet another comic strip that looks at the funny side of computing.

Computer Stupidities - This site collects actual dialogues between real users and real tech support folk. The range of misunderstandings and confusion is frequently hilarious.

Peter's Evil Overlord List - Thinking about a career as an Evil Overlord? Think you have what it takes to be the next Darth Vader? Check out this site for a collection of SuperVillain Do's and Don'ts including 'My ventilation shafts will be too small to crawl through'.

The Voice Actor Page - Want to know who does the voice of Larry 3000 on Time Squad?  Find the answer to this and many more questions about the men and women who do the talking for your favorite cartoon characters.  Search alphabetically by show title or actor name.  (By the way, Larry is voiced by none other than Mark Hamill.) 

Stupid Plot Tricks - Expanding on the Evil Overlord lists, this contains lists of rules for henchman, good guys/gals, bad guys/gals and even sidekicks.  Very funny read.

Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics - This site examines many popular movies to see if the action is in line with real physical laws.  An interesting, entertaining and even educational read.

The Invisible Library - Dedicated to books that don't exist but should.

 

 

Notes Problem Solutions and other Code
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