James D. Foley

Computer Graphics is about computer graphics and principles. This book has four authors, who are experts in their field. It has a hardcover, is richly illustrated with color plates and lots of figures. If the code had syntax highlighting, then it would have been even better.

Chapter 1 covers the basics. Chapter 2 is about SGRP (Simple Raster Graphics Package). Chapter 3 presents basic raster graphics algorithms for drawing 2D primitives.

Chapter 4 describes graphics hardware. Chapter 5 introduces geometrical transformations. Chapter 6 discusses viewing in 3D, projections and perspective.

Chapter 7 is dedicated to SPHIGS (Simple Programmer’s Hierarchical Interactive Graphics System). Chapter 8 is the first of three chapters on GUI’s. These three chapters are low on mathematics and code. Dialogue design is the title of Chapter 9. Chapter 10 examines user interface software.

Chapter 11 is about representing curves and surfaces. Finally, we get back to some code and mathematics. Chapter 12 builds on the previous chapter and continues with solid modeling. Sadly, no code in this chapter. Achromatic and colored light is the subject of chapter 13. This is a fun chapter, however, the lack of color usage in this chapter about color seems paradoxical to me.

In Chapter 14 we embark on a quest for visual realism. Chapter 15 is about visible-surface determination. Chapter 16 discusses illumination and shading.

Chapter 17 explores image manipulation and storage. Chapter 18 discusses advanced raster graphics architecture. Chapter 19 describes advanced geometric and raster algorithms.

Chapter 20 concentrates on advanced modeling techniques. Chapter 21 brings to life animation.

As I said above, this book is written by four authors. Obviously, this means that the writing style differs between chapters. Some chapters have no code or mathematics. Some chapters have one or the other. These are not my favorite chapters. The code examples are written in C or sometimes in pseudocode that looks a lot like C, so you need to have some knowledge of C.

The book is quite thorough and seems pedagogically sound. It is considered a “classic” for many reasons. Personally, I learned a lot about computer graphics algorithms. I give this book 4 stars out of 5.… (mer)