Hacking World of Warcraft

First of all, I didn't buy this book, my wife bought it, which could easily entail an entire discussion about how the impossible can, in fact, REALLY happen...but that must wait for another time! Quick take away regarding this book: I liked it a lot! I am a software developer turned business man, so I have a background in programming (but haven't had to write code for about 7 years now). So, from that perspective, the code sections weren't much of a problem, but getting an understanding about how WoW addons function was very helpful. I wasn't quite as interested in the early sections of the book (although it was good to know about some of the existing addons)...my interest was on creating my own addons from scratch. In that regard, the book was great, and the steps were clearly laid out on how to create the Whereabouts addon. This book is not intended to be a complete primer on EVERYTHING you need to know about writing WoW addons, nor is is meant to be a review of every single existing addon (they change)...rather, it is a nice balance that starts with what existing addons do, and leads into what to do if you'd like to try writing one of your own. In that regard, I think the book did a very decent job!

Whether your a noob or a l33t player of World of Warcraft, there is always a way to improve your ability of play and this guide is the way to go. Want to make your own macros, but don't know how, then this guide gives you a brief and decent guide to do that. Curious about add-ons, but not sure whether they will work or if they will get you in trouble with Blizzard, this guide gives you a starting place and information to help you. The 'Hacking World of Warcraft Guide' is a book for anyone who plays WoW, that wants to improve their ability to play, but either doesn't know how or is unable to figure out where to start. Having been in the predicament in which it seems that one-more second could decide the difference between victory or defeat, I know this book helps lay out the ways to improve game-play. Now despite the name of the book, it doesn't let you hack World of Warcraft. It gives a player a description of features both available at first glance and those hidden just below the surface of the game. Ever wonder how to chain actions, spells, or abilities with one button, this book helps setting that up. Every see screenshots with maps or gadgets and want to know what those are, the book gives an overview of add-ons and options that are available either already in the game or where to find them online. It even warns about programs that Blizzard allows and doesn't based upon past problems. The book even gives you, the reader, fair warning about the dangers of using programs, both on your computer and with Blizzard, so you can't claim you didn't know. Overall the book gives an overview of features, options, and other such things that can add to your gaming experience. While not as straight forward as Brady Guides, it gives a decent grasp of things for playing World of Warcraft.

I myself had been using mods for some time, but Dan explained a lot I never knew, and right from the beginning he quoted Blizzards opinion on using mods in World of Warcraft.I recommend this book to anyone at any stage of using mods. And if you want to make your own mods to use in WoW, there is many chapters that cover that.....along with making two of your own mods. So, not only has he and his co-author made some wonderful mods for a great game, but they have also made a fine book together!

I've followed many online tutorials but since most of them were disjointed, being written by various different people the writing styles & techniques used could kind of become confusing at times. The first half of the book gets you started in using addons and introduces you to some of the better know higher quality addons available and takes you through configuring them. If you are new to WoW then this is the part of the book you will be interested in. The second half is all about how addons work, and then takes you through the creation of a very simple to some fairly robust addons. For those that learn by doing and find it easier with a book than online this is the book for you. It doesn't assume knowledge on your part which makes it very easy for the novice with little to no programming knowledge to pick it up, follow the examples and write your very own addon. It may take 2 or 3 passes before you fully grasp the concepts however. Those of you who are already familiar with other programming languages like Javascript, PHP, C or anything of the like, you will find this a great primer. The best part is the addons you create with the book are genuinely useful, in fact the first one, a coordinates system is something I've been looking for myself, and it handles the function better than other addons I've found.

Ok, lets get something straight right off the bat. I am not a total newb when it comes to gaming, programming or tech. But I am new to WoW, and trust me its pretty overwhelming when you first get in. This book is really good at 2 things: 1. Its a gentle introduction to the whole addon scene for players who either dont use them yet, or who use them only a little bit. It teaches readers how to find addons, how to install them, how to configure them, and how to use them. Addons are divided by their function: Combat, Maps, Loot, Chat, Raid, Class-Specific, Compilations and Misc and each one is covered the same way so thats nice. Can you find all these yourself by scouring the websites? Sure you can. But this book takes some of the pain out of figuring out which ones are best for the job, and how to use them. This is where the book shines in my opinion and is the bulk of the book. 2. It introduces you to the concepts of writing addons and macros in a way that most readers can follow. If you already have some experience in scripting with something like JavaScript or some actual programming experience this section makes more sense. This book is not an in-depth guide to writing addons, or a complete guide to WoW programming. Addons are written in a language called Lua, but this book is not an in-depth guide to Lua either. If you are looking for that, then you should look elsewhere. However the book does walk you through 2 examples, and if you can follow that you will probably want to look for something more to develop addons. Follow it up with a good Lua book, and learn about XML. My only complaint about the book so far is the images are a little small, and I wish they were in color. Still, that doesnt ruin the book and you can still see what they are talking about. All in all the book does a good job at what it's trying to do. So if you are newer to WoW or Addons this is a great guide. And even if you are already using some addons the book might point you to some new ones or even get you started writing your own.