Would you buy a PB 4 based book?

[Intrigued]

It's time for yet another poll (my first, joy)

[thefool]

I voted that i would buy it as soon as it hit the bookstands, but actually i would be more pleased if it contained more about app development as well as techniques for doing it.

[Kale]

I'm currently writing a book that contains nothing about games. The book focuses on complete beginners to Purebasic and programming in general. The book is primarily for people wanting to learn Purebasic from having no experience whatsoever with programming but i hope that it will be a good primer for people migrating from other languages too.

There is no emphasis in the book for games or app development, it simply explains what is possible, what everything does and how to use it. There are code examples and diagrams everywhere throughout the book to fully explain key concepts and demonstrate usage, infact i'm going to see if i can get a CD included with some stuff on as well. If you use Purebasic you'll want this book! I've learned a great deal about PB just writing it!

Here is the table of contents (might change before it's finished)

Code: Select all

Table of Contents

Preface

I.	The Core Language	

1.	Getting Started	
	The History Of Purebasic
	The Development Philosophy Of Purebasic
	A First Look At The IDE
	How To Run Purebasic Programs
	The Debugger
	A Note On Program Structure
	Introducing The Purebasic Help File

2.	Data Types
	Built-In Data Types
	Numbers
	Strings
	Variables And Constants

3.	Operators
	An Introduction To Operators
	Operator Precedence
	Expression Notes

4.	Conditional Statements And Loops
	Boolean Logic
	The ‘If’ Statement
	The ‘Select’ Statement
	Loops

5.	Other Data Structures             
	Structures
	Arrays
	Linked Lists

6.	Procedures And  Subroutines
	Why Use Procedures Or Subroutines?
	Subroutines
	Procedure Basics
	Program Scope
	The ‘Global’ Keyword
	The ‘Protected’ Keyword
	The ‘Shared’ Keyword
	The ‘Static’ Keyword
	Passing Variables To Procedures
	Passing Arrays To Procedures
	Passing Linked Lists To Procedures
	Returning Results From Procedures

7.	Using Built-In Commands
	Using The Purebasic Helpfile
	PB Numbers And OS Identifiers
	Examples Of Common Commands
	Handling Files
	Read The Helpfile

8.	Good Programming Style
	Why Bother Formatting Code
	The Value Of Comments
	My Coding Format
	Golden Rules For Writing Easily Readable Code
	How To Minimise And Handle Errors

II	Graphical User Interfaces

9.	Creating User Interfaces
	Console Programs
	Creating A Basic User Interface
	Adding A Menu
	Understanding Events
	Including Graphics In Your Program	
	Writing Preferences Files
	A First Look At The Visual Form Designer

III	Graphics

10.	2D Graphics
	Understanding Screens
	A Simple Star Field
	Working With Sprites

11.	3D Graphics
	An Overview Of The O.G.R.E. Engine
	A Gentle Beginning
	Lights, Camera, Action

IV	Advanced Topics

12.	Beyond The Basics
	A Closer Look At Numeric Data Types
	Pointers And Their Usage
	Inline Assembly (ASM)
	Dynamically Linked Libraries (DLLs)	
	Purebasic Compiler Directives And Advanced Compiler Options
	Passing Command Line Arguments To Your Program

13.	The Windows Application Programming Interface
	What Is The Window API?
	Hello World
	Windows Types And Their Corresponding Purebasic Types
	Interfaces And The Microsoft Component Object Model (COM)

V	Appendices

	A.  Platform Specific Topics
	B.  Frequently Asked Questions
	C.  Useful Internet Links
	D.  Helpful Charts
	E.  Glossary

Index	

It has taken me 9 months work so far and should contain approx. 250 pages. It should be out soon.

[thefool]

Well, looking at the TOC, you can count me as a buyer.
Any estimated price yet?

Looks great
The things i would be most interested in is probably

Windows Types And Their Corresponding Purebasic Types
Interfaces And The Microsoft Component Object Model (COM)

a bit more on pointers too, as well as Good Programming Style. (and a bit on the GUI section..)

[Sebe]

Do you plan to release it in the stores or will you release it in electronical form like some sort of ebook or maybe an PureBasic app with an key protection?

[thefool]

About release form i would definently prefer to have a hard copy..!

[Sebe]

But it would be much cheaper, especially for the people outside of England...

[thefool]

Of course. Well i didnt mean in the stores, i meant selling it online. And then have a company to press it!

Its just because i like real books much more than ebooks..

[Kale]

I am rolling a few figures around my head and i'm thinking it will probably be approximately:

£17.99 + P&P - $31.99 + P&P - €26.99 + P&P

It will be hard copy only to cut out on any form of electronic piracy.

[Sebe]

Well, I think 30 € should be ok (don't think it will be more with shipping and all if I buy it from one of the big bookstores).

[thefool]

I am rolling a few figures around my head and i'm thinking it will probably be approximately:

£17.99 + P&P - $31.99 + P&P - €26.99 + P&P

It will be hard copy only to cut out on any form of electronic piracy.

Piracy is a big problem with e-books..
However the prices indeed looks very nice!

edit: You say the book should be released soon.. Do we talk weeks or months?

[Intrigued]

The price sounds good and the book content sounds good.

Can you share a sampling of one chapter? Also, what type of font will the book be in (if you know just yet)?

TIA

[Sebe]

Tell us more about it More, more, more, more, ....

[rsts]

I understand what you mean about piracy, but it will sure be nice if it's chock full of nice examples which are available in some electronic form. e.g. cd or html link to site.

cheers

[thefool]

I understand what you mean about piracy, but it will sure be nice if it's chock full of nice examples which are available in some electronic form. e.g. cd or html link to site.

cheers

Definently! A CD would be cool
A link would be usable too, of course.

(A place like a website could also be used to post eventual corrections!)