Reader reviews

Useful in parts. Fine as a reference, less so as a cover-to-cover read.

This is the third book I have read on game development this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. Borrow it first if you can, or at least check the table of contents carefully before buying.

Finally, a book that treats javascript with the care it deserves.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.

I have read a lot of books on this subject and this is the clearest.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. The chapters on game development are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.

Some sections were excellent and others felt like filler.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. Useful as a reference, less so as a straight read from cover to cover.

Very good, with a few caveats. The core material is strong.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. A good addition to a technical library, as long as you know what you are buying.

Solid and well-organised. A couple of chapters dragged a little.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.