Since this post got quite popular I decided to incorporate some of the excellent suggestions posted in the comments, so this list now has more than 50 books in it. [UPDATED: 2011-12-12]
Learning a new programming language always is fun and there are many great books legally available for free online. Here’s a selection of 30 of them:
Lisp/Scheme:
Common Lisp: A Gentle Introduction to Symbolic Computation
How to Design Programs
Interpreting Lisp (PDF, suggested by Gary Knott)
Let Over Lambda
On Lisp
Practical Common Lisp
Programming in Emacs Lisp
Programming Languages. Application and Interpretation (suggested by Alex Ott)
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
Teach Yourself Scheme in Fixnum Days
Visual LISP Developer’s Bible (suggested by “skatterbrainz”)Ruby:
Clever Algorithms (suggested by Tales Arvelos)
Data Structures and Algorithms with Object-Oriented Design Patterns in Ruby
Learn Ruby the Hard Way
Learn to Program
MacRuby: The Definitive Guide
Mr. Neighborly’s Humble Little Ruby Book (suggested by tundal45)
Programming Ruby
Read Ruby 1.9
Ruby Best Practices
Ruby on Rails Tutorial Book (suggested by tundal45)Javascript:
Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Eloquent Javascript
jQuery Fundamentals
Mastering NodeHaskell:
Implementing functional languages: a tutorial
Learn You a Haskell for Great Good
Real World Haskell
The Haskell Road to Logic, Maths and ProgrammingErlang:
Concurrent Programming in Erlang
Learn You Some Erlang for Great GoodPerl:
Beginning Perl
Higher-Order Perl
Impatient Perl
Modern Perl (suggested by Gregory Brown)Python:
Dive into Python
How to Think Like a Computer Scientist – Learning with Python
Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python (suggested by D)
Learn Python The Hard Way (suggested by Stephen Wyatt Bush)Smalltalk:
Dynamic Web Development with Seaside
Pharo by Example (based on the next book in this list, suggested by Anonymous)
Squeak by ExampleMisc:
Algorithms
The Art of Assembly Language
Building Accessible Websites (suggested by Joe Clark)
The C Book
C# Yellow Book (suggested by Joe Wyatt)
Compiler Construction
Dive Into HTML 5 (suggested by @til)
The Implementation of Functional Programming Languages (suggested by “Def”)
An Introduction to R
Learn Prolog Now!
Learning Go
Objective-C 2.0 Essentials
Parsing Techniques (suggested by IronScheme)
Programming Scala
Smooth CoffeeScript
Type Theory and Functional ProgrammingOf course there are many more free programming eBooks, but this list consists of the ones I read or want(ed) to read. This is far from comprehensive and languages that are completely missing are mostly left out on purpose (e.g. PHP, C++, Java). I’m sure somebody else made a list for them somewhere.
Video games - you might be completely obsessed or completely clueless about them - but game development is arguably the fastest growing business in the entertainment world.
The Republic of Ireland is trying to get a bigger slice of the $70bn (£45bn) global industry.
BBC Newsline's Dublin reporter Julie Kirby takes a closer look.
I'm writing a game development document to keep things organized during my game's production. Part of what I'm defining on this document are the softwares I'm going to use to actually produce my game, But I'm not totally sure if I'm making the best options, since I'm not entirelly sure if the GPL license of some of those programs won't get me legal issues later, neither if they're all compatible with each other. so some opinions sure would be welcome.
I'm looking forward to have a high quality game with the minimal overall price as possible (everyone wants that, right?).My game would be published for sale, meaning these software licenses should all allow me to do so, and without having to give away my source code. Here are the programs I'm intending to use so far:
Visual Studio IDE, since my game will be written in C++;
As a result from my researches, I believe this is one of the best IDEs for C++. I've been using DevC++ for a while now, but this IDE's devolpment has been abandoned for a while, so I'd rather move on tho somethingvless buggy. No problems with the IDE choice, I think. I believe it's easily compatible with the softwares I'll need.
Blender 3D, as 3D content creation tool;
As far as I know, Blender is the only really good free 3D modelling tool around there, so there's not much choice here. All other programs are far too expensive, and Blender is the only 3D modelling software I've already used before. The only thing about it is that it's GPL licensed, and I believe I can't use it's output on it' usual formats since GPL says that if part of the output is a copy from the program's code, this part is also under GPL license. I read somewhere on Blender's website that this would be the case, but there'd be a solution, which I didn't get which it is, but that's ok, I guess...
Photoshop, as 2D content creation tool;
Now, here is a problem. Photoshop isn't cheap, but it's the only 2D tool I'm really experienced with (I work using it). I know there's a Serif Photoplus, or something which resembles it, but it's just not as good. I'm thinking about getting a Photoshop license, but if there was a cheaper choice, I'd happilly consider it.
Irrlicht, as 3D graphics engine;
Irrlicht, for as long as I know, is capable of doing what I need. I've considered Ogre too, but Irrlicht apealled more to me since it is more complete. Ogre is better with the graphics, but it has no other features, so I believe Irrlicht will come in handy. My game will ha a Isometric camera, by the way, meaning I don't need the beeeeeeeest graphics. The license for Irrlicht is zlib, if I'm not mistaken, so it's totally ok to use it for commercial projects.
Newton Game Dynamics, as physics engine;
My game will have a few physics, like ragdolls, car crashes (I don't need car deformation, just a bumpping physics) and some object interaction (like dragging furniture to barricade a door, or something like that). For what I've seen, Newton is totally up to the task, and it's license is also zlib, so it's fine to use it.
SFML, as sound library;
I'm still uncertain abou the sound library. From the free ones I've found, this is the only one zlib licensed, that's why I've chosen it, but I have totally no idea how good it is. I'll use it for the musics and sound effects, well, all audio on the game, so It'd rather be good =P I believe Irrlicht deals with it, but just as a note, the game will have 3D sound.
Raknet, as network engine (is it an engine?);
Raknet is another problem. It's free, for as long as I've reached a mark with my game's sales, then I need a license. Is there any other good network engine? The muliplayer won't be mmo, just, dunno, 16, maybe 8, maybe less players playing together.
Darkwave OR LMMS, as sound content creator and editor;
I'm still looking for a software for sound content creation. I really mean creation, Since I don't have the hardware to go out record stuff to further edit, so I'd do my best on the pc with VSs and DAWs. both GPL licensed
Audacity, as sound content editor;
I know, one way or another, it's impossible to do sound effects without harvesting some stuff, so Audacity would help me out editing those things. GPL licensed
I've done some stuff before, but never this big, that's why I want to plan it well. Also, I don't want to have legal issues later. If anyone there has any opinion on how to improve this list, please, you're totally welcome. Above anything, the sound related softwares are the ones giving me more doubts. Any help is welcome, thanks!