books to buy

[jmk09]

Hey
Seeing that I live in a country where game programming is not that much of a hot topic apparently lol I only could grasp a couple of books in one of the best educational libraries in lebanon. ( I have yet to check my university library of course but i keep on forgetting..hmm not a good sign ...) anyways haha... iwas hoping if you could tell me which one is better or which one i should start with in case they're all good :

SAMS TEACH YOURSELF GAME PROGRAMMING IN 24 HOURS
MORRISON

SPECIAL EFFECTS GAME PROGRAMMING WITH DIRECTX
MCCUSKEY

Killer Game Programming in Java
"Davidson,Andrew"

WINDOWS GAME PROGRAMMING WITH VISUAL BASIC & DIRECTX
FREEZE

TRICKS OF THE 3D GAME PROGRAMMING
LAMOTHE

C++ Projects: Programming with Text-Based Games
Dawson

BEGINNING DIRECT 3D GAME PROGRAMMING 2E
ENGEL

Honestly the C++ book is the most appealing to me because C++ is the mostly used language and it is the only language i know actually ( i'm a computer engineering major so programming is not really what we learn ..it's more about algorithms and data structures...but we mostly cover C++ and VHDL ... although VHDL has nothing to do with gaming i suppose?)
Since this came up I would also like to know which one of the other languages is important to learn or is c++ enough? I know that more languages is better but I'm asking what are the crucial languages to learn .

Thank you I know ... I can be quite tiring sometimes with my questions

[yaustar]

How much programming do you already know? None of those books are for beginners.

[jwalters]

I've used the first and last books on your list, somewhat enjoyed the first (but it will take you more than 24 hours of course) and enjoyed the last one with the exception of the numerous errors and exponential learning curve that shoots up around chapter 10 or so. C++ is the industry standard, and starting with text-based games may be more your speed at this point in your education.

[jmk09]

Originally Posted by yaustar

How much programming do you already know? None of those books are for beginners.

Well I took a c++ course in college last year ( sophomore..which is my first year here in lebanon freshman is done in high schol and engineerign is a 4 year program including 2 summer semesters and 1 summer internship semester..) and now taking data structure and algorithm so i know practically anything from input output to classes, of ocurse poitners trees, heaps...
in terms of algorith m searching sorting...stuff like that..binary search merge sort...I mean i'm jus triing to summarize everything i learned so far in a few sentences haha
i was plannign on learnign openGL but i have no idea what it takes.. so i'm trying those books first..
Thanks for both replies

[yaustar]

In that case, I would recommend reading Thinking in C++ (free eBook) and look at LazyFoo's SDL tutorials for graphics, audio and input.

[jmk09]

Originally Posted by yaustar

In that case, I would recommend reading Thinking in C++ (free eBook) and look at LazyFoo's SDL tutorials for graphics, audio and input.

THAT was extremely helpful thank you so much !!!

[sayitwithme]

'Key to C' & 'Technical C/C++' are the two books that i have recently purchased from A1Books online store... I am finding Key to C much more interesting and engaging.. Perhaps you can have a look @ them online before making a purchase...

[GamerVortek]

I may only be 17, but in know alot about what the industry is looking for as far as a game programmer. Every developer in America pretty much requires proficiency in C and C++. The other languages really depend on the developer. Howevery, considering the usage of the unreal engine in games these days, I would say that learning some UnrealScript would definatley be to your advantage. But me personally, I'm looking to learn C, C++, C#, Python, Java, and Visual Basic. I don't want to learn visual basic for games, just for being able to make some basic microsoft applications and such.

[yaustar]

If you are planning to learn C# then learning VB is a waste as the norm for Windows Apps nowadays is C#.