Directx 9 User Interfaces: Design and Implementation

Rating:
Summary: This book sucks for the people who don't know DirectX
Review: I will make this review short. The book is like the Documentation that came with the DirectX Software Development Kit. But the worst reason that makes me write this review give it horrible rating is some of the stuff in the book or example code on the CD doesn't work. I'm not sure if directX changed since the book published. Anyway, I'm not a noob in programming, I'm a senior in college major in computer science, so I know the code doesn't work not because I forgot to link some stupid library. Example, like the texture example code from chapter 3 doesn't work.

Rating:
Summary: Prior reviews don't do this book justice
Review: Neither of the prior two reviews should be considered. The one that claims the code is obsolete and non-working simply has no idea what he/she is talking about, and the second reviewer who claims to have a college degree that is somehow supposed to make him an authority says specifically that the code in Chapter 3 on rendering textures doesn't work.

I just picked up this book, thankfully BEFORE having read those two reviews, and I can tell you that the code worked just fine. Point, Click, Compile, Run.

No errors, no tweaks to get something working.

The book is undoubtedly for a very limited target audience. It shows you how to build a limited but pretty functional user interface in **duhh** DirectX 9. Not 8, not 7, not DirectDraw, not GDI or GDI+. The title is very clear, the author is very clear. If you load the code and can't get it to work, you've done something wrong on your end.

Yes, there are shoddy books out there that deserve to be tossed in the fireplace. But to write a poor review claiming non-functional code when in fact the problem is on your end is inexcusable.

This book teaches what it claims. It gives examples of the topics he covers, and the examples work. Some aren't all that glamorous, some are in my opinion oversimplified. But the code is good, and the author did a commendable job.


Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money!
Review: Sorry, all code is obsolete, don't works!, needs an update soon.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Class Designs
Review: This book provided me with some great ideas for writing classes.
The authors approach to designing the interface code is easy to understand and read. I will now apply these concepts to my new 3D engine.

"DirectX 9: User Interfaces" provides a solid code base in which one can learn. Note, I said learn-not just copy the code. I've been programming in C/C++ for about three years and have read many books. The books alright and worth your time. However, its not for beginners. Many techniques are skimmed over quickly because the author assumes a moderate knowledge base.

In closing I'd like to address the issue of running the programs.
Some reviewers stated that the code does not work. THIS IS NOT TRUE. However, if you attempt to compile the code with Visual C++ 6.0 it will fail. The solution to this problem is to go to the DirectX 9 web site at Microsoft. Next, proceed to the Direct X 9 SDk downloads area. Look for the DirectX 9 SDK Extras download. Inside this download is a set of libraries for the utility features of DirectX 9 that are designed specificly
for Visual C++ 6.0. Set your compiler to these utilities libaries
and everything should work-did for me. If it doesn't make sure the compiler points to the new lib files before it checks the older ones during linking.