Articles are sorted by date of first publication. Newer ones are at the top.

Software Design

Large-Scale Physical C++ Design (Presentation; Oct 27, 2003)
The HTML presentation for a talk I gave at my company on physical software design. An introduction to physical design for improving software quality, achieving maintainability, and facilitating code reuse. (To be viewed full-screen with large fonts.)

GNU/Linux

GNU Automake By Example (June 1, 2005)
This article presents several simple Automake/Autoconf-based projects. No lengthy explanations--instead, I present a few examples that illustrate how to add Doxygen support, how to work with multiple subdirectories, how to use Libtool libraries, how to use KDevelop with Automake-based projects, etc.

Python

Building SWIG Python Extensions on GNU/Linux (May 27, 2005)
In the article "Python Extensions In C++ Using SWIG", I describe how to extend Python with C++ code. That article also contains instructions for building SWIG extension DLLs on Windows. This article contains instructions for using GNU Automake and Autoconf to build SWIG extensions as shared objects on GNU/Linux.

Introduction To New-Style Classes In Python (May 8, 2005)
An introduction to new-style classes in Python. Covers descriptors in general as well as the predefined descriptors property, staticmethod, and classmethod. Presents __slots__, __new__, and super(). Contains examples of using these language features as well as links to other papers.

Python Extensions In C++ Using SWIG (Oct 8, 2003)
This article describes how you can combine the strengths of C++ and Python by writing Python extension modules for your existing C++ libraries. For this, we are going to use SWIG, a tool that greatly simplifies the task of wrapping C++ code.

DirectX

Triangulating and Extruding Arbitrary Polygons (May 7, 2001)
This is a tutorial on polygon triangulation and extrusion. The article discusses how you can use OpenGL services to produce a 3D text mesh for use in a Direct3D 8 application. There's also some interesting information about calculating vertex normals for producing smooth edges.

Taking Screenshots with Direct3D 8 (Feb 24, 2001)
This article walks you through the code of a Screenshot function which you can use in your Direct3D 8 applications to store a rendered scene to a Windows bitmap file.

Building a Particle Engine - Season I (Aug 16, 2000)
This tutorial will show you how you can spice up your game by using particle engines for special effects. It covers everything from Direct3D-specifics to engine architecture, and comes with readily usable source code.

Getting Started with "Lock" (Jul 15, 2000)
This article explains how to access the DirectDraw frame buffer directly, using IDirectDrawSurface::Lock, lpSurface, lPitch, DDPIXELFORMAT, etc. As a demo, we are going to write a fast animated flag effect (compilable source code included).

Fast Bitmap Fonts for DirectDraw - Converting from TrueType Fonts (Jun 20, 2000)
This tutorial presents a method to render fonts faster than the GDI. The complete source code of the font engine is included, as well as a utility to convert any TrueType font to the proprietary DirectDraw font file format.

Using the GDI to Take DirectDraw Screenshots (Jun 2, 2000)
This tutorial explains how you can save the contents of DiectDraw surfaces to standard bitmap files. The article contains the complete source code of a one-call Screenshot function which supports all possible pixel formats.

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C++Builder

Note: The DirectX Borland LIBs have moved to the Projects page.

Compiling the DirectX 8 SDK Samples with C++Builder (Nov 21, 2000)
Last update: June 8, 2001
This article is a work in progress about making the DirectX 8 SDK Samples compile with C++Builder. Click the link above to read the current version of the article.

Using DirectX with C++Builder (Aug 17, 2000)
This article covers everything you need to know to successfully use DirectX with C++Builder–with or without the VCL. A complete C++Builder Project is included.

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