Sign-In
Cart
Data Structures and Algorithms for Game Programming in C++: Write high-performance code and solve game development challenges with expert-led C++ solu
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781835889862
Publisher: Packt Publishing
Published: Jun 30 2025
Pages: 428
Weight: 1.61
Height: 0.87 Width: 7.50 Depth: 9.25
Language: English
Learn C++ game programming through real-world demos of AI systems, animation, and rendering to build scalable, high-performance games using patterns you can reuse across any game engine
Free with your book: DRM-free PDF version + access to Packt's next-gen Reader*
Key Features:
- Build real-time 2D and 3D games using C++ with practical, executable examples
- Gain proficiency in game programming domains like AI pathfinding, camera systems, animation, and rendering effects
- Boost runtime efficiency with object pooling, LOD patterns, and terrain partitioning to create smoother, more responsive gameplay systems
- *Email sign-up and proof of purchase required
Book Description:
Creating responsive, intelligent games takes more than just following engine tutorials. It requires solving real development challenges with practical, efficient code. This book bridges theory and practice with proven algorithms and techniques grounded in real-world production needs, emphasizing clean, portable C++ implementations.
Starting with raylib and the custom Knight engine layer, you'll be introduced to a simple object-oriented scene and game object system. From there, you'll build responsive gameplay systems using essential data structures and algorithms, progressing through 2D rendering, collision detection, effects, and camera control before advancing to 3D graphics environments built using shaders, lighting, quad-tree terrain, and dynamic camera setups.
You'll animate characters using skeletal rigs, interpolation, and inverse kinematics for fluid movement and then develop game AI using FSMs, behavior trees, A* pathfinding, and steering behaviors. The book also covers neural networks, exploring their underlying theories, training processes, and tools. Throughout, the code is written in legacy-compatible C++ to ensure broad support across platforms and compilers.
By the end, you'll have gained the skills to build game systems that not only work but also scale, perform, and adapt like professional-grade code.
What You Will Learn:
- Use C++ data structures and algorithms to build core gameplay features
- Implement 2D/3D rendering with shaders, particle effects, and terrain systems
- Design camera systems like third-person, top-down, and split-screen views
- Optimize performance using object pooling and LOD
- Animate characters using skeletal rigging, interpolation, and inverse kinematics
- Build game AI with FSMs, behavior trees, pathfinding, and steering
- Apply neural network concepts in a turret defense project
Who this book is for:
This book is for junior game developers, hobbyists, and computer science students entering game development, as well as C++ programmers looking to strengthen their skills. While some familiarity with C++ is helpful, the examples are explained step by step to remain approachable. Whether you're starting out or reinforcing your skills before diving into game engines down the road, this book offers a clear and practical foundation to make you a more effective developer, regardless of which tools you choose later.
Table of Contents
- Gearing Up: C++ for Game Development
- Data Structures in Action: Building Game Functionality
- Algorithms Commonly Utilized in Game Development
- 2D Rendering and Effects
- The Camera and Camera Controls
- 3D Graphics Rendering
- Rendering a 3D Game World
- Animating Your Characters
- Building AI Opponents
- Machine Learning Algorithms for Game AI
- Continuing Your Learning Journey
Also from
Li, Zhenyu George
Also in
Programming
Interactive Theorem Proving and Program Development: Coq'art: The Calculus of Inductive Constructions
Castéran, Pierre
Bertot, Yves
Hardcover
The Legend of Zelda(tm) Tears of the Kingdom - The Complete Official Guide: Collector's Edition
Piggyback
Hardcover
Python Crash Course, 3rd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming
Matthes, Eric
Paperback
The Legend of Zelda(tm) Tears of the Kingdom - The Complete Official Guide: Standard Edition
Piggyback
Paperback
Crisis Engineering: Time-Tested Tools for Turning Chaos Into Clarity
Nitze, Marina
Weaver, Matthew
Dickerson, Mikey
Paperback
Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations
Humble, Jez
Kim, Gene
Forsgren Phd, Nicole
Paperback
Embedded Systems with ARM Cortex-M Microcontrollers in Assembly Language and C: Fourth Edition
Zhu, Yifeng
Paperback
Make: Electronics: Learning by Discovery: A Hands-On Primer for the New Electronics Enthusiast
Platt, Charles
Paperback
Fundamentals of Software Architecture: A Modern Engineering Approach
Richards, Mark
Ford, Neal
Paperback
The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change
Fournier, Camille
Paperback
Vibe Coding: Building Production-Grade Software with Genai, Chat, Agents, and Beyond
Yegge, Steve
Kim, Gene
Paperback
AI Projects with Raspberry Pi: High-Performance Artificial Intelligence for Robotics, Security, Home Automation, and Vision
Hattersley, Lucy
Jepson, Brian
Paperback
I Have an App Idea: The Essential Guide to Building an App Without Tech Skills
Spann, Amanda
Paperback
The Return on AI: From Promise to Profit in the Age of Intelligent Business
Sawhney, Mohanbir
Mittal, Ashwin
Paperback
The Devops Handbook, 2nd Edition: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations
Humble, Jez
Debois, Patrick
Kim, Gene
Paperback
The Staff Engineer's Path: A Guide for Individual Contributors Navigating Growth and Change
Reilly, Tanya
Paperback
The Developer's Guide to AI: A Field Guide for the Working Developer
Orshalick, Jacob
Reghunadh, Jerry M.
Thompson, Danny
Paperback
Building Applications with AI Agents: Designing and Implementing Multiagent Systems
Albada, Michael
Paperback
Site Reliability Engineering: How Google Runs Production Systems
Beyer, Betsy
Jones, Chris
Leng, Christof
Paperback
Software Architecture: The Hard Parts: Modern Trade-Off Analyses for Distributed Architectures
Sadalage, Pramod
Ford, Neal
Richards, Mark
Paperback
Cracking the Coding Interview: 189 Programming Questions and Solutions
McDowell, Gayle Laakmann
Paperback
Observability Engineering: Achieving Production Excellence
Majors, Charity
Fong-Jones, Liz
Miranda, George
Paperback
Forecasting: Principles and Practice, the Pythonic Way
Athanasopoulos, George
Hyndman, Rob J.
Paperback
Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to Html, Css, Javascript, and Web Images
Robbins, Jennifer
Paperback
Building Safer Technology: A Field Guide to Failing Well
Kissner, Lea
Zunger, Yonatan
Coles, Neil
Paperback
The New AI Cold War: Liberty vs. Tyranny in the Age of Machine Empires
Maginnis, Ltc Robert L.
Paperback
Linux Basics for Hackers, 2nd Edition: Getting Started with Networking, Scripting, and Security in Kali
Occupytheweb
Paperback
The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery, 20th Anniversary Edition
Hunt, Andrew
Thomas, David
Hardcover
SQL QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner's Guide to Managing, Analyzing, and Manipulating Data With SQL
Shields, Walter
Hardcover
A Human's Guide to Machine Intelligence: How Algorithms Are Shaping Our Lives and How We Can Stay in Control
Hosanagar, Kartik
Paperback
Grokking Algorithms, Second Edition: An Illustrated Guide for Programmers and Other Curious People
Bhargava, Aditya Y.
Paperback
Generative AI Design Patterns: Solutions to Common Challenges When Building Genai Agents and Applications
Lakshmanan, Valliappa
Hapke, Hannes
Paperback
The Official Raspberry Pi Handbook 2026: Astounding Projects with Raspberry Pi Computers
Makers of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine, The
Paperback
Learning Domain-Driven Design: Aligning Software Architecture and Business Strategy
Khononov, Vlad
Paperback
Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science
Knuth, Donald
Graham, Ronald
Patashnik, Oren
Hardcover
The Software Architect Elevator: Redefining the Architect's Role in the Digital Enterprise
Hohpe, Gregor
Paperback
Head First Design Patterns: Building Extensible and Maintainable Object-Oriented Software
Freeman, Eric
Robson, Elisabeth
Paperback
Learning Generative AI Tools for Excel: Speed Up Your Everyday Tasks with Microsoft Excel, Copilot, Chatgpt, and Beyond
Duca, Angelica Lo
Paperback
Arduino Programming for Beginners: A Comprehensive Beginner's Guide to Learn the Realms of Arduino Programming from A-Z
Protosmith, Ada
Paperback
Building AI-Powered Products: The Essential Guide to AI and Genai Product Management
Nika, Marily
Paperback
Building Resilient Distributed Systems: Patterns and Practices for Stable Software
Newman, Sam
Paperback
Build an AI Agent (from Scratch): Agents That Reason, Plan, and ACT Autonomously
Hur, Jungjun
Song, Younghee
Paperback
Debugging: The 9 Indispensable Rules for Finding Even the Most Elusive Software and Hardware Problems
Agans, David J.
Paperback
AI Agents with MCP: Model Context Protocol for Building Clients, Servers, and End-To-End Agents
Stratis, Kyle
Paperback
Inteligencia Artificial Con Python: Sistemas de aprendizaje, Machine Learning y Deep Learning explicados de forma clara y práctica.
Selles Rodenas, Juan Ignacio
Paperback
Signals & Levers: Systems Thinking Tools to Unblock Software Delivery
Tosi, Joel
Hendrickson, Elisabeth
Paperback
Frictionless: 7 Steps to Remove Barriers, Unlock Value, and Outpace Your Competition in the AI Era
Forsgren, Nicole
Noda, Abi
Paperback
Software Engineering at Google: Lessons Learned from Programming Over Time
Manshreck, Tom
Wright, Hyrum
Winters, Titus
Paperback
Living a Jewish Life, Revised and Updated: Jewish Traditions, Customs, and Values for Today's Families
Diamant, Anita
Cooper, Howard
Paperback
Learning Php, MySQL & JavaScript: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Websites
Nixon, Robin
Paperback
Java in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference
Clark, Jason R.
Flanagan, David
Evans, Benjamin J.
Paperback
Python Programming for Young Coders: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Coding for Beginners, Kids, and Teens
Pandey, Anand
Paperback
Programming Massively Parallel Processors: A Hands-On Approach
Hwu, Wen-Mei W.
Kirk, David B.
El Hajj, Izzat
Paperback
Computer Science from Scratch: Building Interpreters, Art, Emulators and ML in Python
Kopec, David
Paperback
Adobe Photoshop, 2nd Edition: A Complete Course and Compendium of Features
Laskevitch, Stephen
Paperback
Evals for AI Engineers: Systematically Measuring and Improving AI Applications
Shankar, Shreya
Husain, Hamel
Paperback
Electronic Music and Sound Design - Theory and Practice with Max 9 - Volume 1 (Fifth Edition)
Maurizio, Giri
Cipriani, Alessandro
Paperback
Kubernetes in Action, Second Edition: Deploying and Managing Containers and Cloud-Native Applications
Luksa, Marko
Conner, Kevin
Paperback
Prompt Engineering for Llms: The Art and Science of Building Large Language Model-Based Applications
Berryman, John
Ziegler, Albert
Paperback