High Performance Windows Graphics Programming: Your High-End Guide for Creating Fast, High-Impact Graphic with Microsoft's DirectDraw API

This book simply rules. Not only does the writer explain the ins and outs of the DirectDraw API *very* well, the author also discusses some common problems (and their solutions) that many programmers may face in a game or multimedia application. I never saw these problems discussed in any other book. For example Stan discusses how to eliminate the flicker of the mouse pointer as you draw it on a pageflipped surface, how to mix Windows MCI and DirectX and more. Usefull stuff indeed.The book might not be too swell for beginners though. Stan assumes some basic knowledge about Windows and DirectX, meaning he doesn't explain how to set up DirectX, how to create a message loop, how to set up a window, and so forth. This is ofcourse good, because the book is not polluted with stuff that's already described in so many other books. But it means, as a programming newbie, you need at least another book to get the basic understandings. A good beginners book is Games programming for Dummies from LaMothe.Authors who are interested in advanced graphics programming should get the Graphics Programming Black Book from Abrash. It's not specifically about Windows, but it contains some valuable resources nevertheless.

I got this book having no directdraw programing experience, a strong C++ background, and limited Win32/MFC programing experience. The first chapter gives a great crashcourse on Direct Draw, and the remaining chapters do a good job at explaining difficult concepts. Though I don't know if I would recommend this book to a beginer, a quick learner can pick up alot from the book.