Beginning Java 8 Games Development

When I bought this book I was looking for a book about Java 8 that I could have fun with and not get bored with reading through and end up only using it as a reference. So, when I saw this title I thought it would be a good learning tool and writing a game would keep me interested. For what I bought it for, I felt it did an excellent job.This is absolutely a "beginner" book. The first four or five chapters are very, very basic. I can see the author is laying a foundation of basic knowledge but it is too basic. For example, entire chapters are written on how to download the various IDE's and applications you will need. IMO, telling me I need to download the latest version of Java 8 and NetBeans 8 should not take up three or four pages of text. It is that way for all of the various tools the author recommends. It also teaches the very basics of Java and Object Oriented programming...what a package is, what a class is, what a constructor is, what overloading and overriding methods mean, etc. I know this is a beginners book but it seems to assume you have never used Java, know nothing of OO programming, and don't know how to download software from the internet. IMO, it is too basic and contains a lot of stuff that almost all readers will skip.However, when I read past (or mostly skimmed and skipped) those early chapters, this book does a very good job of breaking down how Java 8 handles graphics, sound, getting objects on screen, and various game related tasks (collision detection, animation and movement, etc). That is the main purpose of the book so it gets a big thumbs up for how it presents and teaches the fundamentals of JavaFX and how it can be used to create a game.The layering of knowledge works well in the later chapters. The author never jumps right into coding but explains the goal and how the inner workings of Java 8 can reach that goal. You are not just told to define a sprite...but this is what the various graphic formats are (GIF, JSP, PNG, etc.), this is what we need to consider when we use a graphic, this is what I recommend, and now this is what you need to do in Java 8 to use that graphic. The same is done with audio, screen design, etc.The result is you create a game with his example code but you finish the book with an in depth understanding of the code, and ALSO why certain choices were made and how to make the best choices when you make your own game.So, I would highly recommend this book with the understanding that if you are not completely new to Java and Object Oriented programming that you may not get much out of the first few chapters.

If you have already some experience with JavaFX, I recommend ignore this review and read other opinions which come from individuals better versed in OOP than me, and therefore are in a better position to give you meaningful review. What I can state is a huge amount of relevant experience related to game development is covered, and introduction to many powerful and useful Netbean tools offered.But, if you are like me, and truly a beginner to object oriented programming and Java, then you might want to look elsewhere. From the very beginning the author uses terms like static, dynamic, class, object, method, parent without the reader seeing these concepts in metaphorical models often used elsewhere. His review of the java language syntax is terse as I have ever seen in print or digital content, and during the scant 9 page introduction to data types, operators, branching and looping not a single executable program is offered, nor are any exercises to practice these crucial foundation building concepts. Later, when the reader is introduced JavaFX's immense tool set, executable code is again absent- at best you get short coding excerpts that cannot be ran independently. This is not a big deal if you are already familiar with JavaFX and the tools it provides, but a huge gloss over for neophytes.As you get into the meat of the text, the author does starts giving you little pieces of game code to enter. However, generalized instructions are often given (example: "First, put the object declaration and naming Java code at the top of the InvinciBagel class.") instead of complete coding instructions. If you are already versed in JavaFX, this probably isn't a problem; I'm guessing you can fill in the blanks without even realizing it. But for a beginner, whose infancy to Java syntax and OOP principles hasn't been matured by earlier chapters, this results in some amount of frustration.Still.....if you are willing to swallow this frustration, have the patience to struggle thru the creation your own example code then there is sufficient breathe here to get you up and running, so I cannot condemn this text; despite prerequisites beyond my current understanding, I am still making Wallace Jackson my primary resource for bootstrapping myself into JavaFX. There was a lot of material covered in this work, and obviously short cuts had to be taken. Beginner to OOP and Java, just be aware of the level of commitment that will be required prior to jumping into this book.

The first few chapters are review but after that it gets really interesting.Also helps with learning some cool Net beans tricks as well as optimizing code.Great book so far.I've learned a few things for sure.

This book is concise and thorough. I have to read sections over and over to get the information, but I don't have to look all over to find it. I am really impressed and like this book a lot.

Pretty bad language and poorly structured. You need to read til chapter 6 to even get to coding.Constantly repeating same things again and again.

This was one of the clearest and understandable books on Java 8 I've read . Highly recommended for one starting on the subject.

It is fun learning using this book.

Perfect

The book is great in that it gives you a basic idea of how to develop games BUT...The collision detection code in the book does not work, well it appears to work because there are two levels of detectionsthe SVG collision detection does not work and until starting your own games after finishing the book its easy to miss.There are also loads of errors in the book which can confuse you, naming errors for code snippets.The book is good, the editing is amazingly bad, if you need to learn JavaFX Game Development then it will give you the skills to create Pong, almost.

An excellent book. This book is the only Java book I have read that actually teaches you how to write a complete Java program. Although I wasn't interested in games programming, I learnt a lot about designing and writing a Java program. The book also uses Netbeans to deveop the program, so you learn how to use Netbeans as well.

Lots of helpful facts packed into book on the new java 8 system concerning javafx and how to build a game with the programminglanguage. Code worked, well put together.

There is not a lot of code examples, there is a lot of explanation though. The version I got also contains a few noticeable mistakes that anyone following the book could notice if it was correctly reviewed, I hope future versions will be fixed.The book must be read from start to finish, you cannot simply look at the sections that interest you as you won't be able to test them unless you write all the code.Speaking of writting code, we only start writting code at about 40% of the book.This book helps learn about the JavaFX part of Java 8 but I would not suggest this book if you are looking for a reference book.

I did not like it because it has a very few examples. I was looking for a book that is rich of code examples.This book is not what I was looking for