How do I begin game programming?
May 21st, 2010 | 
Author: Is it required to know windows programming before one can begin game programming with DirectX?
I’ve seen some code written for Windows-based applications, and it is very different from what I’ve learned in C++ textbooks. I guess windows programming itself is very different from console applications.
Anyway, I want to get up to speed with DirectX, but I am not familiar with windows programming. Do I need to learn windows programming before I can even attempt to work with DirectX?
Posted in Q&A | 
Tags: Attempt, directx, familiar with windows, game programming, guess, learn programming, textbooks, windows programming
You will need to know at least the basics of Windows application development to work with DirectX. Afterall DirectX is a windows based system.
At the very least you will need to know how to start a windows program(the differences in Main()), how to work with the windows messaging loop/queue, how to handle events, and how to process simple input.
I’d recommend picking up ‘Programming Windows’ by Charles Petzold. Its a complete reference and guide to programming Windows based applications. You can start with just the basics to get yourself straight to the DirectX code, and then add on as you need to.