Core HTML5 Canvas: Graphics, Animation, and Game Development

There has been so much hype about HTML 5, only for many of us to... yawn. Not so with Canvas! When Microsoft polled their developer community about 5, it seems the cat was let out of the bag: Canvas is the big hit.Geary does an astonishing job of THOROUGHLY covering all the animation and game aspects of Canvas from every angle, even if "development" is stretching it a bit. This truly is a "missing manual" type book that flows ideally whether you're using it as a reference or to learn Canvas. I'm amazed that, with Canvas relatively little known yet, David NAILS every key topic an animator/ game programmer would want covered. The 11 chapters include Essentials, Drawing, Text, Images and Video, Animation, Sprites, Physics, Collision Detection, Game Development, Custom Controls, and Mobile apps.Because HTML is, well, HTML, the author spends a lot of time and detail on Java, CSS and other web topics as he rightfully should. The code examples in the book, with their FULL counterparts on the website (p. 313 gives the site, won't try it here, Amazon doesn't like that, and I don't blame them -- buy the book!).So what if you're writing in Unity's engine, XNA/ Studio, Flash (/ActionScript), Java, etc? You'll still love this book, because as you apply any of your work to the web and/or mobile devices using web connections, you'll need to see the new Canvas methods for incorporating your work, even if you're only using .gif files or a series of .png stills in a Photoshop, Maya or Flash animation.Would I program an entire game in Canvas, and really use it for "development?" Probably not with engines like C4 and Unity around, or Visual Studio with C# and XNA. For mobile, Java is king in Android and even the Objective C in IOS now has abundant engines to help jump start your code, fill in shaders (which have now all but taken the place of the rendering pipeline given direct GPU access), etc. BUT-- Canvas is a must know whether the web/mobile is your final destination, or even if you're just using the web to promote your Indie work. While I'm on the topic, check out Amazon's new "Amazon Studio" offering-- they are now soliciting Indie type games, animations, shorts, etc. and offering some great opportunities and cash if you're selected. Shameless plug? No... just want your game or animations to be seen beyond YouTube!All in all, an amazingly written and illustrated work with a LOT of code (almost an entire library). Well worth the price even if you just use it as a reference rather than trying to learn all of Canvas. If you're a serious web gaming programmer-- a 5 star must, written the way I wish many more books like this were written. Prentice Hall are no slugs-- they obviously wanted this to be a winner-- and it is.Technical example (non programmers can ignore this): As you know, game programming is basically drawing and updating, and in fact XNA gets you started with that loop in place in C# when you load VS. Well, enter browsers, and the loop/draw won't work-- it becomes a timeout loop as in the old "do loop" days, due to the browser's interpretation of the methods. David (p. 340) gives the workarounds for this, with all three browser's examples of what will and won't work, and cautions about Firefox bugs. This you need to know if you want your game to run on multi platform browsers.If you're just thinking Windows, Mac, a console, a phone, etc. you might forget that browsers come with their own unique problems like the above, especially in their timeout logic. David explains how this limits your FPS choices, and how to get around those issues with Canvas for any browser. Just a taste of how thorough he is-- and yes, the code is given for the workarounds in every case, whether they are HTML, Java, or the browser's own calls and methods!

I bought this in hopes of getting familiar with Canvas. Disappointing to say the least. Unless the full code samples are on-line, the sample code snippets in the book are just that, snippets. The author brings up a subject point, describes it, and gives you the impression he is giving you the full code to run and explore it for yourself. Unfortunately your left filling in the blanks.

I just wrote a 1 star for a very very weak book on HTML5 in general. THIS is a book on the subject done correctly. One can learn from this book by reading, working the exercises, etc. It's clear, professionally laid out like an actual text book. Code is in a readable type IN COLOR that ACCURATELY REPRESENTS SEMANTICS!HTML5, clearly superior to previous versions, is the new standard for web development. This book shows why, focuses on one of the more complex new tags, <canvas> </canvas> in clear, well-written detail. One can actually learn how to use the new 'programmable div' here. I recommend this highly, and in paper, where one can highlight properly and make handwritten comments at a more useful level than on a tablet, IMHO. This one, unlike so many others, is worth the shelf space.Congrats, Mr. Geary. Job very well done!

Usually when I get 'how to' books I end up reading a few pages, and then learning the rest online. I've only had this book a few days, and I get better answers, better explanations, etc, from this book than I do from StackOverflow / Medium / youtube tutorials. Twice now, I read a paragraph saying what NOT to do, which surprisingly was exactly what I was doing that led me to pick up the book. I wish there were a book that covers canvas using React v16 , but hey you can't have it all.Highly recommend.

Update: This is a terrific book and so far it's been a joy to use. The author explains what he's talking about and doesn't leave you to guess at things as much as some authors do.This book smells exactly the way the CorelDRAW! 3 manual did, back in 1992. If you have been in graphics for a while, you will know what I mean. This smell is a mark of quality. In addition, the colored, syntax-highlighted code examples are terrific. I will finish the book sometime in the next couple of years and will adjust my review as needed. In the future, I hope the author will consider lighter-weight, project-by-project texts that are a bit more easily digested. But of course I won't deduct points for thickness.

If you are familiar with the author you know Mr. Geary is rather thorough when covering a topic. I learned quite a bit early in my Java life about graphics programming with one of his books. This is the book to read and go through to learn how to make a game with Canvas in HTML5. If you decide to use a framework like createJS you will learn in this book all the work you are being saved. This is the must to have book to learn Canvas another good title for it would be "Complete and Comprehensive Introduction to HTML5 Canvas"

if you want to know about HTML5 and specifically using canvas to make a game or any other kind of application with it, get this book! Seriously this book is everything that you'll need and more and all of the examples online seem to be working, which is very helpful because you can copy the code and then use it how you need it and play with it. This is how I would write a book everything that I would want to know about the subject is in this book I'm very appreciative of this author!

This is an excellent book for the HTML5 canvas. I am a professional software engineer, I just developed an online designer that is now being used by a global company with the help of this book. Highly recommended.

Programming can be a chore at times but this book shows there are still some fields where you can get instant gratification. The short examples show some really powerful techniques and impressive effects that you can achieve in about 30 minutes.I have to say this book has really kickstarted my love for graphics programming again, which like many, was the reason I got into this field. It's really well written and the "tips" given are quite insightful and useful.My only gripe is that the code examples on the Kindle aren't as clear as they could be (the text is a bit corrupted) you can still read what's been written, hence no deduction in score, but it did take a bit longer to understand the code than it really should of.

Part of what led me to select this book was the full-colour code listings. This is no guarantee of quality, but I think it is a positive indicator - it shows that some thought and effort has gone into it. I'm only a couple of chapters into the book, but I so far am impressed. Unlike when reading almost all technical computing books, I have not screamed out loud once yet! Normally, I am screaming either because the author has just used a new term/concept without any proper explanation; or because the author has adopted a cloyingly patronising style in an attempt to make it look beginner-friendly; or, all-too-often a combination of both. Geary manages to find just the right balance for me - readable, clear, reasonably-paced. And, looking ahead in the book, I'm impressed at the way the examples build up - even to a complete pinball game. Being able to download all the code and try them straight away without typing is also very useful.

Books that stay relevant in web development after a decade are rare. This book remains the best text to quickly understand canvas API yet

useful. don't like kindle format but that is not the fault of the book. however you can download all the source code which is excellent and really usefull

down to the html 5 specification, it also covers mobile development, recommended for all developers planning to take advantage of the html canvas element