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Neil Gower's Blog
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Plays games, makes games, writes about games.
Neil Gower is a freelance programmer specializing in technology for the entertainment industries. Since 1998 his work has spanned both the technical and management sides of games, film, and teaching. This diverse range of experience gives him a distinct advantage by enabling him to bridge gaps between industries and disciplines.
Neil's passion for programming drives him to be constantly learning and exploring new areas of technology. He studied artificial intelligence and computer science at university before graduating to become a full-time programmer. He continues to stay in touch with his academic roots as an ACM Professional and SIGGRAPH member.
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Expert Blogs
Do Game Developers Need To Care About UBB?  |
| Posted by Neil Gower on Mon, 07 Feb 2011 10:33:00 EST in
Business
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| Usage-based billing (UBB) has been in the news lately in Canada, but how does it affect game developers? As I see it, it could mess up some of our biggest emerging opportunities. |
| Read More... | 4 Comments |
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The Neurotic Pre-Check-In Re-Check |
| Posted by Neil Gower on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 02:05:00 EST in
Programming
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| Sometimes it pays to be neurotic about your code... like right before you check it in. |
| Read More... | 1 Comments |
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Using Mutable To Write Better Container Code |
| Posted by Neil Gower on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:10:00 EDT in
Programming
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| In this post I take a look at how to use "mutable" in C++ while giving in to the urge to over-comment some code. |
| Read More... | 11 Comments |
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Canadian Copyright: A Game Developer's Perspective |
| Posted by Neil Gower on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:03:00 EDT in
Production
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| The Canadian copyright consultation has stirred up the old DRM/copyright/piracy debate again. Some thoughts from someone who depends on games to make a living... |
| Read More... | 6 Comments |
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In C++, Everything is Harder Than You Think |
| Posted by Neil Gower on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:05:00 EDT in
Programming
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| C++ is a great foundation for building games, but you need more than just the core language to get anywhere fast and reliably. If you're not using C++ with STL and Boost, it might be time to upgrade your toolbox. |
| Read More... | 13 Comments |
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Code Assertively |
| Posted by Neil Gower on Sat, 01 Aug 2009 07:00:00 EDT in
Programming
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| Assert. Some people love it, some hate it. While it can be a bit abrasive, assert is really not so bad once you get to know it a little better. |
| Read More... | 4 Comments |
[More Neil Gower Blogs]
Neil Gower's Comments
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Comment In: Using Mutable To Write Better Container Code [Blog - 10/07/2009 - 03:10]
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@john: You're right. The twist ... @john: You're right. The twist here is that we don't want to copy and paste the body of strictLookup just to change the return type from const to non-const. Mutable makes it possible to write a function like lookup to solve this. |
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Comment In: In C++, Everything is Harder Than You Think [Blog - 08/14/2009 - 04:05]
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Thanks for the feedback guys ... Thanks for the feedback guys It's true, Boost does require a bunch of bootstrap files to get started. The bare minimum for smart pointers is a half dozen headers and 3 subdirs of additional boost bits. I don't think that's so bad, but if you prefer something more minimalist, check ... |
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Comment In: Bytes: I Am Jack's Catastrophic Hard Drive Failure. [Blog - 08/01/2009 - 09:31]
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Wow, sorry about your hard ... Wow, sorry about your hard drive, but it's good to hear a Time Machine success story. I haven't had the guts to reformat my system to try it myself. :- If you wanted to go with a NAS, I've found the Netgear ReadyNAS series to be really great in my ... |
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Comment In: Learning the Ways of the Game Development Wiki [Feature - 07/30/2009 - 03:32]
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I'll chip in that in ... I'll chip in that in a top-down style of organization, a wiki is not a good fit. Wikis work in collaborative environments where anyone can contribute to anything if they see the need. These are very different ways of working, and the culture clash is much harder to overcome than ... |
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Comment In: Make Your Bed, Eat Your Veggies, and Comment Your Code [Blog - 07/17/2009 - 05:35]
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Thanks for all the great ... Thanks for all the great feedback. I'm not going to touch the brace placement issue, except to say that both styles have their merits. :- @Roger: Future posts about coding practices are on the way. Maybe something about good uses of assert ... @Richard: Noting important callers of a function ... |
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Comment In: Game Programmer Books: General Programming [Blog - 07/08/2009 - 03:10]
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@Jeff: You beat me to ... @Jeff: You beat me to it I'll definitely include your suggestions in future posts about C and game-specific books. @Klaus: Thanks, Sedgewick's algorithms books are new to me. I learned from Intro to Algorithms by Cormen et al, which was a definite keeper from school days. Looks like Sedgewick has ... |
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