Beginning XNA 2.0 Game Programming: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Game Programming)

by Alexandre Santos Lobao, Alexandre Lobao, Jose ANTONIO LEAL DEFARIAS, et al.

XNA programming is an increasingly popular way of creating games for the Microsoft Xbox 360 home entertainment system, as well as Windows PCs. The free development tools distributed by Microsoft make... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590599241
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Apress
• Length: 456 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Best XNA book, code examples contain errors, where is the Quality Control?

I found this book on the web and still decided to buy it. The book is the easiest time I think I have ever had learning XNA, however, like all programming books it seems that only experienced coders who correct errors as they read are the ones in charge of editing and quality control. For example, on page 46 it tells you to include a line of code that doesn't seem to make sense (private SpriteBatch spriteBatch = null;) in the Game1 code. This of course is redundant and cause the game not to compile. And.... naturally, the downloaded source code runs fine. Why? Because this line of code is not in the project. I imagine the XNA guru they had reviewing this book (how come they don't hand the book to a total newbie and say 'here, follow this book exactly and tell us when the code examples dont work') fixed the errors he seen on the fly without thinking ..oh, a total newbie won't know this is an obvious mistake.. But I can honestly say I have NEVER read a 'teach yourself' programming book with flawless code examples. And of course the downloaded source always works and you just have to compare your file with thier file and see what is different. The only positive note I can say about the poor state of quality control with newbie programming books in general is that in a way it teaches you to troubleshoot code. But, for someone who is completely new and doesn't pick up on these things it is very frustrating. I'm lucky now in that I have learned enough that I can fix these errors, but a few years ago I would have just tossed this book out of frustration when I do exactly as instructed and it still doesnt work. To the people who write these books I have a suggestion.... If the person in charge of quality control has ever written a single line of code they are not qualified to review a book targeting newbies. Give the book to your spouse, neighbor, 12 year old, etc. who will quickly hand it back to you 5 times every chapter and say 'hey, I did what it said and got a bunch of errors', or 'hey, it assumes here on page whatever I know where to type this'. Now, all that being said, this is a darn good book. The authors make XNA and XBOX programming about as simple as possible... the examples are explained very well and easy to follow. If you have gone through another C# teach yourself newbie book you should minimal trouble getting a game up and running in just an hour or so!

A window to the world of the games with XNA

This book will have us the window to the world of the development of games with XNA, the descriptive style of we make it at the same time I find wonderful. A great idea of learning making.

Best XNA book on the market

This is a great book to help you get started with XNA. I like the fact that it's straight and to the point with no fluff. Covers 2D and 3D game programming including skeletal animation. All sample code compiles and runs as advertised and is explained in detail. I had a bad experience with another XNA book so I'm glad I found this one.

Great learning value!

You should understand C# code before diving into this book. I tried online tutorials and nothing comes close to just reading and using this book! Although there were a few places where I had to use an online resource to figure out exactly what the author was talking about, it still supasses any other online XNA intro.

Amazing Book

I recently picked up this book and it's great !!...it's clear, and it's perfect for those people who want to understand the XNA bases, but at the same time, start to create by themselfs. Even if you aren't a programmer, this book will guide you step by step trough all the process, from a basic game to a complex character animation. In short, this book is an excellent starting point for people who want to learn XNA and get involved in the videogames world.