Reader reviews

Excellent from start to finish. No filler, no padding.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. One of those books that pays for itself within the first few chapters. Highly recommended.

Excellent from start to finish. No filler, no padding.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. One of those books that pays for itself within the first few chapters. Highly recommended.

Decent, but uneven. Some chapters are much stronger than others.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. Useful as a reference, less so as a straight read from cover to cover.

This is the one to get if you are serious about simulation.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. The chapters on simulation are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

Some sections were excellent and others felt like filler.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. Three stars feels about right. It will stay on my shelf, but it will not be the first one I reach for.

Outstanding. I kept finding reasons to come back to it.

This is the third book I have read on graphics this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with graphics.