Rating: 
Summary: Flawed, but good enough.
Review: Managed DirectX 9 Kick Start has a few problems, but the important thing to keep in mind is that it's good enough to learn the material. There writing is a little annoying (Miller says 'naturally' and 'quite simply' several times per page), and I personally do not like the programming style he used, but the listings in the book are fine and the explanations make it clear what he's doing.The most significant issue I found was that Miller took an extremely procedural, nonfunctional approach to the code examples, which makes them much less readable. If they had been more object-oriented it would have been easier to understand and quicker to type. Also, if you happen to use Visual Basic (I don't know why you'd do such a thing, but...), beware: the CD has VB code in it, but the book does not. I recommend this book it to anyone who is comfortable with C# and is prepared to do a little work to figure some of the things that aren't explained in great depth, just make sure you go into it with a good grasp of the language.
Rating: 
Summary: You will need C#
Review: Originally I gave this book only one star due to my high disappointment of not having any executables on the CD and not being able to view the sample code with Visual C++ 6.0.
That review was written on the day I got the book in the mail. You know how it is, you order something and when it comes in you immediately want to play with your new toy. I could not.
After reading the book for awhile, I have come to the conclusion that I was being too harsh. The book does have a lot of good stuff in it. You just need Visual C#.
Personally, I think the author should have put Visual C++ 6.0 versions on all examples on the CD. After all, Microsoft has Visual C++ versions of all their DirectX 9.0 sample code.
So, for all you Visual C# people out there, I do highly recommend this book. For the Visual C++ people, the author does an excellent job of explaining the concepts. But it will be a learning experience to translate the code to C++.
By the way, not all books written in C# require C#. Clayton Walnum's Direct3D Programming Kick Start was written in C#, but the sample code was such that I was able to view it with Visual C++ 6.0, and with some minor modifications was able to get it to compile. It had .cpp files. Miller's book does not. Walnum also had executables.
To conclude: I give this book 4 stars. The reason why 1 star appears above my review, is that when you go to edit your review, you are NOT allowed to change your star rating. Just the text.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding DirectX9 Introduction.
Review: Sams Kick Start series boast being "quick, concise" and "practical" those words adequately describe this book, I have read five other books on the subject of DirectX programming and Managed DirectX 9 Graphics and Game Programming is a unique gem, it is an excellent introduction to the Direct3D, DirectPlay and DirectSound APIs. It effectively covers the fundamentals and fills the gaps left by the Managed DirectX9 SDK Sample applications. Beyond the fundamentals Tom's explanations are very focused, for example, the Direct3D API is much too large for one book to cover and he does an outstanding job of providing the least amount of information you need to know in order to build a 3D game program, this was precisely what I was hoping for when I bought this book. Microsoft recently reviled that in the next version of Windows they will replace the Win32 API with the .NET Framework Class Libraries as the OS building blocks. This shift along with the rise of 64-bit processors will push Managed code to the forefront. If you're thinking of making the switch this book would make a good companion to a .NET fundamentals book, it would help make the experience more enjoyable and would provide a real-world example of how writing Managed code is in many regards much simpler than Unmanaged. One word of caution, you must have C# or VB.NET experience to get anything from this book. It makes extensive use of the .NET Framework class libraries, also you'll need Visual Studio.NET 2003 edition to open the sample files (the pervious version of Visual Studio.NET is incompatible with the solution files) although the full Framework SDK is included with command line tools to achieve the task, no make files are included. So if you do not have Visual Studio.NET hopefully you understand how to build and link your source code using the command line tools, again if you're new to .NET/Managed code, this isn't the place to start.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding DirectX9 Introduction.
Review: Sams Kick Start series boast being "quick, concise" and "practical" those words adequately describe this book, I have read five other books on the subject of DirectX programming and Managed DirectX 9 Graphics and Game Programming is a unique gem, it is an excellent introduction to the Direct3D, DirectPlay and DirectSound APIs. It effectively covers the fundamentals and fills the gaps left by the Managed DirectX9 SDK Sample applications. Beyond the fundamentals Tom's explanations are very focused, for example, the Direct3D API is much too large for one book to cover and he does an outstanding job of providing the least amount of information you need to know in order to build a 3D game program, this was precisely what I was hoping for when I bought this book. Microsoft recently reviled that in the next version of Windows they will replace the Win32 API with the .NET Framework Class Libraries as the OS building blocks. This shift along with the rise of 64-bit processors will push Managed code to the forefront. If you're thinking of making the switch this book would make a good companion to a .NET fundamentals book, it would help make the experience more enjoyable and would provide a real-world example of how writing Managed code is in many regards much simpler than Unmanaged. One word of caution, you must have C# or VB.NET experience to get anything from this book. It makes extensive use of the .NET Framework class libraries, also you'll need Visual Studio.NET 2003 edition to open the sample files (the pervious version of Visual Studio.NET is incompatible with the solution files) although the full Framework SDK is included with command line tools to achieve the task, no make files are included. So if you do not have Visual Studio.NET hopefully you understand how to build and link your source code using the command line tools, again if you're new to .NET/Managed code, this isn't the place to start.
Rating:
Summary: Good "kick start," though style is a little annoying
Review: This book delivers what the title says it should, that being a good overview of how to use the DirectX classes of the .NET DirectX SDK. Some of the 3D math and terminology is a little intimidating, but having a good base in C# and casually reading about graphics hardware from time to time, it only required that I read more carefully and actually write the code samples. I was pleased to see a complete application in one chapter that shows how to write a game. While not insanely complex, it does give you a great overview on how make 3D objects do stuff in space. The order of topics covered is logical and fairly complete, though having some small bit of background in using .NET's network classes, I'm not entirely sure if the networking stuff is entirely necessary (though it certainly is a lot easier to follow than the normal base classes). One annoying thing... annoying enough to make me write about it, is that the author has uses the words "quite simply," "naturally" and "easily" in every other sentence. I don't know how that got through editorial review. Of course the subject matter is all of those things to the author... he wrote the managed DirectX classes! It is only an issue of style, but it's so frequent that it's a distraction.
Rating:
Summary: A no brainier
Review: This book gives everything to you in the perfect size bites, each with its own special sauce. He explains things to you with a "watch THIS" enthusiasm. The sidebar Shop Talk sections where very interesting with an almost behind the music quality to them. It is a great book because it isn't one of those "at the end of this book you'll have an engine" books that are typical. He's showing you the ropes so you can sort that kind of thing out for yourself. It's a no brainier that the book is good once you find out that Miller is the designer and development lead for Managed DirectX. I'd say it is the first book anyone just starting with graphics or game development should buy, assuming they are familiar with C#.
Rating:
Summary: A no brainier
Review: This book gives everything to you in the perfect size bites, each with its own special sauce. He explains things to you with a "watch THIS" enthusiasm. The sidebar Shop Talk sections where very interesting with an almost behind the music quality to them. It is a great book because it isn't one of those "at the end of this book you'll have an engine" books that are typical. He's showing you the ropes so you can sort that kind of thing out for yourself. It's a no brainier that the book is good once you find out that Miller is the designer and development lead for Managed DirectX. I'd say it is the first book anyone just starting with graphics or game development should buy, assuming they are familiar with C#.
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME!
Review: This book is amazing! If you are looking for a touch up on C#, look somewhere else, becuase this book does exactly what it states in the title. It teaches you Managed DirectX 9.0b w/ summer update (included on CD). It assumes you already know the ins and outs of C# and would like to learn 3D and some 2D programming. (also includes some networking w/ direct Play). AMAZING!!
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME!
Review: This book is amazing! If you are looking for a touch up on C#, look somewhere else, becuase this book does exactly what it states in the title. It teaches you Managed DirectX 9.0b w/ summer update (included on CD). It assumes you already know the ins and outs of C# and would like to learn 3D and some 2D programming. (also includes some networking w/ direct Play). AMAZING!!
Rating:
Summary: Great book on managed DirectX---- For a change
Review: This book is great for those who enjoy learning by experimenting. The author explains a little about the API, does what any novice would try to do, then explains what causes it to not work smoothly (and how to fix it). This fosters a deep understanding not only of the API, but also of how it interacts with both Windows and hardware. This book assumes you have studied a little trignometry, but no more. I would highly recommend this to any developer who wants a painless introduction to the world of multi-media programming.
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