Review of Focus On SDL (The Premier Press Game Development Series) (Paperback)

I am a sophmore in college studying computer engineering, and I bought this book in the hopes that it would help me with a programming project for school. The main thing that this book has going for it is the fact that it is actually writing about SDL... not many other books go into this subject and it is refreshing to see a book that doesn't limit itself to the Windows/DirectX world.

The book is written in easy to understand language and is very helpful in showing what SDL is capable of. It proceeds to show readers how to set up most of SDL's different subsystems.

The main problem with this book is that it does not go into detail about any of the topics it covers. If you're curious about how to use SDL's video/graphics capablity, for instance, you will learn how to initialize the system and draw some circles on the screen. The book has smaller pages than most, and the 54 pages long chapter on the video subsystem doesn't take long to get through. It leaves you wanting to know more.

In short, this book will skim over different topics in SDL and teach you enough to get started. You will need to look elsewhere for details. I recommend purchasing this book to get you on the right track, but just know that you will need to search the internet for tutorials and example applications before you can seriously write games. This book is only a beginning.

Since you are looking at a book on SDL, I assume you are trying either to learn how to program games/graphical applications for Linux, or are trying to make it so that the code you write can have multi-platform support. If this is the case, I would recommend looking at "Linux Game Programming" by Mark Collins (in the same series as this book) and "Programming Linux Games" by Loki Software/John Hall as well. Of these three books, I like "Programming Linux Games" best since it goes into greater detail and walks you through the creation of a basic, but complete game for Linux. Even though it has Linux in the title, most of the APIs it touches on (SDL, OpenGL, OpenAL, etc.) are cross-platform, so what you learn is not limited to Linux alone. For the project I was working on, I found myself jumping amoung the aforementioned books and online tutorials such as those at NeHe.

Product Description
Focus On SDL is your key to writing programs faster andwith greater ease. Execute the same applications as with DirectX, butwith more versatility. SDL (Simple DirectMedia Layer) allows you topack up your code and go! If you have a basic knowledge of C++, you'reready to roll. Dive into advanced topics such as alpha blending andoverlays, or intensify your game audio with the SDL_mixer add-onlibrary. This book teaches you how to write the code and thendistribute it to various platforms. From setting up your system toincorporating networking and user interface components, Focus On SDLgives you the tools you need in one comprehensive guide.

About the Author
Ernest Pazera is a self-taught programmer, starting at age 13 with a TRS-80.He is a moderator of an isometric/hexagonal forum on the site and has extensive experience with game development. Ernest is the author of Isometric Game Programming with DirectX 7.0 from Premier Press.

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