Gain a gentle introduction to the world of Ring programming with clarity as a first concern using a lot of practical examples. The first part lays the foundations of the language and its basic features (data types, control structures, functions, and classes). The unique way to rigorously structure Ring programs is also explained. Then, in the second part you’ll discover Ring inputs, outputs, and what is in between. You’ll use the basic constructs of computer logic (sequence, selection, and iteration) to build simple and complex logic flows. You’ll go over the common mistakes that lead to code complexity, by example, and cover several strategies to solve them (refactoring, code cleansing, and good variable naming). Then, you’ll see a visual illustration of how Ring deals with scopes at the local, object, and global levels. In part three, you’ll play with two artifacts vital to Ring programming: functions and objects. You’ll learn how they can be composed to solve a problem and how advanced programming paradigms, such as declarative and natural, are beautifully implemented on top of them. As part of the discussion, you’ll also work on game programming. You’ll learn how you design your game declaratively, in Ring code, just as if you were designing it in visual software. Finally, the author lays out how programming can be understood in a gamified context. You will be told the truth about how gaming can be a better metaphor to achieve mastery of Ring programming. This book is for those who are passionate about writing beautiful, expressive, and learnable code. It has been designed so you can enjoy a beginner-friendly set of knowledge about Ring, and benefit from a one-stop collection of lessons learned from real-world, customer-facing programming projects. What You Will Learn Get started with Ring and master its data types, I/O, functions, and classesCarry out structural, object-oriented, functional, declarative, natural, and meta programming in RingUse the full power of Ring to refactor program code and develop clean program architecturesQuickly design professional-grade video games on top of the Ring game engine Who This Book Is For Beginners looking for a consistent and hackable programming environment with a strong flavor of learnability and expressiveness.

CONTENTS: This volume among others covers the following topics: - Installation of the development environment Lazarus - Basics of programming in (Free) Pascal - Modular programming with units - Creation of simple graphical user interfaces - Using the printer from your own programs - Creation and editing of simple graphics - Visualization of dynamic processes By numerous characteristic application examples the reader is quickly enabled to create individual applications with Lazarus by himself. Of course, typical pitfalls are clearly pointed out. Future volumes that deal with database techniques, internet applications and software technological aspects are under preparation. Further information about the book can be found at www.informatik-ganz-einfach.de. TARGETED GROUPS: Students of computer science, mathematics, engineering and natural sciences, both beginners and those who are changing from other programming languages or development environments, who would like to get to know the possibilities of the free development environment Lazarus more intensively or are planning to switch to this development tool.

This book is for students and professionals who are intrigued by the prospect of learning and using a powerful language that provides a rich infrastructure for creating programs. No programming knowledge is necessary to benefit from this book except for the section on Lua bindings, which requires some familiarity with the C programming language. A certain comfort level with command-line operations, text editing, and directory structures is assumed. You need surprisingly little in the way of computer resources to learn and use Lua. This book focuses on Windows and Unix-like (including Linux) systems, but any operating system that supports a command shell should be suitable. You'll need a text editor to prepare and save Lua scripts. If you choose to extend Lua with libraries written in a programming language like C, you'll need a suitable software development kit. Many of these kits are freely available on the Internet but, unlike Lua, they can consume prodigious amounts of disk space and memory.

Gain a gentle introduction to the world of Ring programming with clarity as a first concern using a lot of practical examples. The first part lays the foundations of the language and its basic features (data types, control structures, functions, and classes). The unique way to rigorously structure Ring programs is also explained. Then, in the second part you’ll discover how declarative, natural, and metaprogramming are beautifully implemented on top of Ring objects, and how functional programming and meta-programming can be embraced. It’s magic regarding how they are implemented and how easy they can be used, but mainly because these paradigms open new possibilities for writing software. Hence, they provide a pragmatic bridge to the historical gap between programming as a technical construct (be executable by machines) and the problem to solve (usually expressed as a declarative rules-oriented business requirement or in plain natural language). The third part is where real programs are made. From desktop to mobile to web programming, you’ll cover every application domain. Game programming is explained in more detail through the impressive yet comprehensive 2D declarative game engine written in Ring and shipped within the language. To conclude this part, the TextParser sample application is introduced to show you how multiple paradigms can be combined in Ring to completely change the rules when solving complex algorithmic problems. Finally, the fourth part of the book analyzes some advanced features of the language such as error handling and debugging, multilingual support, and extending Ring’s capabilities using external C and C++ code and libraries. Beginning Ring Programming is for anyone who is passionate about innovation in programming, critical thinking in computer science, and capacity building in coding and software craftsmanship. What You Will Learn Get started with the Ring programming language Master data types, I/O, controls, functions, classes, operators, and structure Carry out functional, declarative, natural, and meta-programming with Ring Apply Ring to game development Build web, desktop, and mobile applications with Ring Extend Ring with C/C++ Who This Book Is For Beginners looking for a consistent and hackable programming environment with a strong flavor of learnability and expressiveness.

The book starts with the basics, explaining how to compile and run your first program. First, each concept is explained to give you a solid understanding of the material. Practical examples are then presented, so you see how to apply the knowledge in real applications.

Build several fully functional games as well as a game engine to use for programming cell phone and mobile games with Beginning Mobile Phone Game Programming! The included CD provides the tool, code and graphics necessary to complete all exercises covered in the chapters. Beginning Cell Phone Game Programming demystifies wireless game programming by providing clear, practical lessons using the J2ME Game API. You will learn how to use the most popular mobile programming language, Java, to build compact games that can run on any Java-enabled device, including mobile phones, pagers and handheld computers. You will also learn to add a splash screen, create a demo mode, keep track of high scores, and test, debug, and deploy your games. Topics covered include: How to construct a game engine to drive mobile games. How to use Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) and the Java Game API to get the most performance out of your mobile games. How to implement sprite animation and control interactions among moving sprites. How to play sound effects and music in mobile games. How to take advantage of wireless networks to build mobile multiplayer games. How to design and develop a variety of different games spanning several video games genres.

Programming allows developers to create a sequence of instructions that enable computers to perform certain functions and tasks Offering the basic best practices and skills for novice programmers, this book helps readers gain new skills for writing programs and developing applications Teaches programming using C++ and explores scripting with JavaScript and VBScript, which are all free and don't require the reader to purchase any software Includes programming projects and real-world code examples that can be modified and expanded upon