Elysian Shadows

This is my review for http://lazyfoo.net/, one of the few SDL tutorials sites. I will be covering the tutorial section. I will be giving 5 things I like and dislike about the tutorials.

What I like about the tutorials:

- wide variety of topics
- is very good when first starting out
- provides examples for all platforms, you don't need to search around to find libraries
- provides source code and it works
- provides pictures of what he is talking about to clarify what he is saying

What I don't like about the tutorials:
- he sticks everything in one file, making it harder to go through the code, would like it better if he had files for each class
- he will explain some things very well, and then not explain something else in as good of detail.
- I find a lot of code for doing things that is not on topic, (for instance, in the tile section, he has a dot walking around the level, kinda annoying when going through the code)
- I don't like how he splits up the source document by class, functions, class functions.
- and the biggest thing is when I go to copy and paste code from the website (because its usually lost some where in the source) it goes on a single line so code gets commented out.

all in all I think I would recommend the site, I would rate it probably around 7/10, it could be improved upon.

In my opinion it's good for learning SDL, bad for learning development. His code is not very well organised but he explains the use of SDL well enough for someone to know how to use it by themselves.

I find the further along you go the less organised it gets, I had a tough time learning from it, I found myself reading the same thing over and over again

Randi wrote:I find the further along you go the less organised it gets, I had a tough time learning from it, I found myself reading the same thing over and over again

me too, I mostly used the documentation, and specific tutorials that I needed on the net

I totally agree with the points above, it's a good reference to get you started with SDL, it gets you using it and messing around with it, but it is very important that you understand how to structure your code properly, and adapt what lazyfoo has shown you, as opposed to simple copying and pasting, while a lack of clarity and inability to copy the code may seem like a drawback, some (like myself) find this a benefit, it gets you thinking, whilst not being stuck at square one when you're learning SDL

the best way to explain this site is "A site with well structured and organised tutorials, but a site which is flawed, but still very useful to people starting SDL" IMHO

Before I got a book, this would definitely be the one that set me on my path with SDL & OpenGL game development.
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Agreed!

i always thought they were great when i started, but i found SDLTutorials.com to fit my style more. Lazy foo has helped me a lot and i think you should take the stuff you learn and put it together yourself, not just copy and paste because you dont learn much that way.

thejahooli wrote:In my opinion it's good for learning SDL, bad for learning development. His code is not very well organised but he explains the use of SDL well enough for someone to know how to use it by themselves.

This is true. I mainly find it as a good reference for "oh yeah, how do I do this again?" and find the parts of his code that use the functionality I need.
I at least have appreciated the site enough to donate on a couple occasions.

Lazyfoo was helpfull at first when i was learning SDL but later on i felt like i had sufficient knowledge and didn't read to much on some of the later things like multithreads