Reader reviews

Some sections were excellent and others felt like filler.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. The chapters on game development are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. Useful as a reference, less so as a straight read from cover to cover.

A superb guide. The examples are small but complete.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. The chapters on game development are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. One of those books that pays for itself within the first few chapters. Highly recommended.

Excellent from start to finish. No filler, no padding.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. Worth the money and the reading time, without hesitation.

Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.

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

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. The chapters on ai & machine learning are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. A good addition to a technical library, as long as you know what you are buying.