I got a second-hand copy of this book yesterday and I''m planning to go through it during the summer. My question is, should I read it cover-to-cover or are there any sections that I should pay more attention to? I know this sounds like a very broad question, but what topics are more important for game programming? or should I just read the whole thing as many times as necessary? About my calculus experience, I took a very bad course in college and I also studied on my own, I can derive and integrate in a robot-like manner but I need to review a lot. I am just a beginner programmer and I want to get a good grounding in math before I go more into C++. (or maybe I''m wrong here and it should be the other way around?). Jake

hey i did that!math is one of the easiest subjects to learn on your own if your bright. its very objective.

"is there a part i should concentrate on for game programming"


hmm. that book has a section bout analytic geometery as it relates to calculus. ( finney thomas was the book i used many years ago). progress to that material.

then i would side step to newtonian physics. kinematics. as far as out of topic subjects for game programming calculus will start showing less returns then physics after a point. dont get me wrong calc is great so is diffy-q.

cept lets imagine i was there.
and you said to me (though im not an expert on game programming) here help me learn some non-programming stuff that will help me be a game programmer i would choose in this order:
1) single variable calculus
2) linear kinematics without force/mass (much easier then calc 1 and much much easier after calc 1. trivial is prolly best)
3) basic linear algebra
4) rotational kinematics force/mass/acceleration multi-particle newtonian systems.
5) intro to linear algebra (lol "intro" is math code for hardcore)
6) discrete mathematics (probabilities/basic number theory/ proofs)
7) then and only then calc 3. multivariable calc.
8) basic diffy-q

you know number 1. so i would guess basic physics. if you know that then some linear algebra so you can handle linear but 3 or 4 dimensional line/plane equations easily is in order.
then back to some real physics (comes up in games ALOT). then finish with some hardcore linear algebra. then onto number theory/logic. mainly cause number theory really matures you alot. then calc 3 for topical but rare applied use.
after that get to coding for christ sakes. though if you finished that in a summer i would be impressed. i could see ya making it into discrete mathematics if you went light on the deeper linear algebra (which is feasible). the physics stuff really aint to hard with the math in ya. its just nailing some concepts like "work" "energy" that might cause trouble. diffy-1 is just bonus. diffy-q melts some problems you face in real life sometimes.

Work the exercises. Personally I don''t read math books. I just work all the exercises. I just use the text as referance material. I lookup what I need to work the exercises. Assumptions are your enemy. Don''t just assume you understood what you read, prove it and you prove it by working the exercises. What will help you the most is a CAS system such as the one in the TI-89/92 so you can check your answers and track down your mistakes. Working a problem two or three ways to verify your answer is a slow way to go.

agree lil.

Thanks for replying guys, I am now searching for a good physics book to along with this one.

declspec, I also took a crappy analytic geometry course last year so I guess I can move over those sections in the book without feeling totally lost and I can reinforce what I learned. I also took physics both in highschool and in my freshman year.

LilBudyWizer, I am trying your method and it works, but I''m mostly reviewing material I already studied, I am afraid it won''t work with stuff I''ve never tackled before.

My main problem is that the courses I can take at school won''t be great so I have to do a lot on my own. But I am reasonably motivated so I guess it''s not a big deal.

Jake

i misrepresented myself in saying there is a right answer. some of accomplishment around math or mechanical physics wont be lost on you no matter how you parsel it up. in fact if there is a math type your not enjoying. doesnt fascinate you. far better is to keep pushing on something you enjoy then try to push on something that doesnt interest you such that you give up your goals.


btw you can see how many questions on this board are basic mechanical physics.



[edited by - declspec on May 27, 2002 11:25:50 PM]

The point wasn''t to not read the book, but rather to work the exercises I certainly didn''t mean it is bad to read the book and that you shouldn''t do it. Rather I meant that JUST reading it would be pointless. I worked all the problems in all the sections from cover to cover. I think it was close to a thousand pages in total. I took a year to go through it. It wouldn''t take more than a month to read the book though.

I started out reading the sections then working the exercises. After a while though I switched to just starting on the exercises and when I hit something I couldn''t do then go read what I needed to work the problem. I read about every example in the book. I read the vast majority of proofs. Certainly every theorem/definition. A lot of here is a pretty picture stuff I skipped though. If I wasn''t working the exercises I would need it, but with the exercises it is seems pretty much like well, duh. The exercises at the end of the previous section most often already did that. I didn''t mean to imply that I don''t use the text, but rather I just don''t read it. I refer to it instead.

Right on !
#1 thing.
EXERCISES !!!

Reading the book is great, but to learn it, you must do the exercises.
I learned that last summer real good. :D

Go right ahead.

quote:

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Original post by declspec
hey i did that!math is one of the easiest subjects to learn on your own if your bright. its very objective.

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Not for me. I can learn pretty much anything else just by browsing through some books on the subject. With math(and physics) I actually have to work at it.

/shrug intelligence varies in manifestation.

hardest math class i ever took was college algebra. material was just as hard. everyone else got it too. let me explain

now material is just as hard as college algebra... cept nobody else thinks so. the result is i can hold highest test average in the class by flipping through the pages ) and working out 5 or 6 probs per a chapter to make sure i got it. cause the questions being asked are way easier then their college algebra counter parts. in college algebra everyone else got the material. test were way harder. as my math education advances the questions are getting easier... but only i think so. nobody else gets it.

its odd. but math was never easy. still isnt easy. it just never got hard. its hard to explain.

math isnt easy for me. it just never got hard for me.

im like that with lots of things though. nothing is easy but nothing gets hard. its all sort of long division.








[edited by - declspec on May 29, 2002 8:09:09 AM]