Preventative Programming Techniques-Avoid and Correct Common Mistakes

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Brian M. Hawkins

Copyright 2003 by CHARLES RIVER MEDIA, INC.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way, stored in a retrieval system of any type, or transmitted by any means or media, electronic or mechanical, including, but not limited to, photocopy, recording, or scanning, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Publisher: Jenifer Niles
Production: Publishers’ Design and Production Services, Inc.
Cover Design: The Printed Image

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This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Brian M. Hawkins. Preventative Programming Techniques: Avoid and Correct Common Mistakes.

ISBN: 1-58450-257-6

All brand names and product names mentioned in this book are trademarks or service marks of their respective companies. Any omission or misuse (of any kind) of service marks or trademarks should not be regarded as intent to infringe on the property of others. The publisher recognizes and respects all marks used by companies, manufacturers, and developers as a means to distinguish their products.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hawkins, Brian M.
Preventative programming techniques : avoid and correct common mistakes / Brian M. Hawkins.
p. cm.
ISBN 1-58450-257-6 (Paperback with CD-ROM : alk. paper)
1. Computer programming. I. Title.
QA76.6.H388 2003
005.1--dc21
2003001341

Printed in the United States of America
03 7 6 5 4 3 2 First Edition

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This book is dedicated to my family, friends, and two Keeshonds Austin and Libby.

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I would like to thank my wife Debra for her patience and understanding of my crazy schedule and long work hours that allowed me to write this book. I would also like to thank Kim Lay, my best friend and fellow programmer, for her support and feedback on the concepts discussed in this book.

Many thanks go to Jenifer Niles and the rest of the production team at Charles River Media for the opportunity to make this book a reality. Without their patience and assistance, this book would have been much more difficult to finish.

This book would not have been possible without my experiences working at Justsystem Pittsburgh Research Center, Activision, Seven Studios, and consulting for JAMDAT. In particular, I would like to thank Scott Fahlman for the opportunity to learn the importance of research while at Carnegie Mellon University and Justsystem Pittsburgh Research Center. Also, thanks to Dr. Ian Lane Davis for the opportunity to begin working on the development side of software production.

Thanks to the many coworkers and friends with whom I have spent long hours discussing software development, including Chris Buchanan, Donovan Mandap, Gordon Moyes, Hamilton Slye, Ivanna Kartarahardja, John Hancock, John Miller, Michael Douglas, Nick Kramer, Paul Haban, Rahul Sukthankar, Rita Lui, and Steve Mariotti. If I have left anyone out, please forgive me and know that I appreciate your contributions as well. In addition, thanks to the many other writers from whom I have learned much.

About the Author

Brian Hawkins graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University and immersed himself in computer graphics research at Justsystem Pittsburgh Research Center. After two years, his desire to hold a finished product in hand led him across the United States to join Activision in Los Angeles, where he worked as the game core and user interface lead on Star Trek: Armada. In addition, he contributed to Civilization: Call To Power and Call To Power 2.

The next step for him was to take a position as lead programmer at Seven Studios to help create Defender. Brian is now offering consulting services from his own company, Soma, Inc., and has recently worked on several mobile phone games and applications for JAMDAT.

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