Hacking World of Warcraft (ExtremeTech)
by Daniel Gilbert, James Whitehead II
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Book Reviews of Hacking World of Warcraft (ExtremeTech)
Book Review: NOT a book about writing add-ons
Summary: 3 Stars
Over half of this book lists and briefly describes add-ons that are available on the web. This may be a reasonable introduction for players who have never used add-ons, but it's no substitute for web sites like ui(dot)worldofwar(dot)net that have more content that's organized better and is more up-to-date. Still, there are those who won't know what to look for and a catalog like this one may be what they need to see what they're missing.
The section on writing macros is a good way to get started and it's fairly up-to-date (for now). This section is why the book rates 3 stars and not 2.
The section on writing add-ons takes up about a third of the book and is an unqualified disaster and a meaningless sacrifice of innocent trees. It goes on at length to haphazardly say almost nothing and is littered with advice like "if you want to do X, download an add-on that already does X and read its source code." Thanks, bub. Glad I paid $20 for that gem.
The good news for prospective authors is that the niche of "How to Write World of Warcraft Add-Ons" books is still vacant and ready to be exploited. A reasonable book on that topic would include well-written tutorials and clear sample add-ons that cover, even if only superficially, the many things a player may want to do. It would also include a well-organized reference for the APIs (both lua and GUI), along with short snippets illustrating the use of each function. Such a book, if it existed, would undoubtedly sell very well.
Book Review: For what the book is its not bad.
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm going to rate this book for what it is, not for what it is not. This book is primarily about using addons with a sidebar on the basics of making them. And for what it is it was done pretty well.
A few things I would have liked to have seen is a more robust rolling your own addons section and reference. As an addon developer I think it needs a better overall progression and it assumes a little too much at times.
The sections about using addons seem only to cover the absolutely most popular addons or subjective favorites in their respective categories. And this is good for most people but I personally would have liked to have seen a more objective view and more options. This wouldn't have required very much work or time.
Bottom line if your new to WoW and want to get into the whole UI customization stuff then check this book out. It'll get you started and definitely enough to get your feet wet. If you know nothing about coding addons then you might find some of it useful but you'll definitely need to reference online materials such as the wowwiki, wowace's site, and probably a few chat rooms.
If your an experienced developer who has made a few addons this book probably doesn't hold much for you. Its pretty lacking as a reference material and won't add much to your overall knowledge.
I hope you find this useful. And please ignore the trolls.
Book Review: The resource I've been looking for.
Summary: 5 Stars
I've followed many online tutorials but since most of them were disjointed, being written by various different people the writing styles & techniques used could kind of become confusing at times.
The first half of the book gets you started in using addons and introduces you to some of the better know higher quality addons available and takes you through configuring them. If you are new to WoW then this is the part of the book you will be interested in.
The second half is all about how addons work, and then takes you through the creation of a very simple to some fairly robust addons. For those that learn by doing and find it easier with a book than online this is the book for you.
It doesn't assume knowledge on your part which makes it very easy for the novice with little to no programming knowledge to pick it up, follow the examples and write your very own addon. It may take 2 or 3 passes before you fully grasp the concepts however.
Those of you who are already familiar with other programming languages like Javascript, PHP, C or anything of the like, you will find this a great primer.
The best part is the addons you create with the book are genuinely useful, in fact the first one, a coordinates system is something I've been looking for myself, and it handles the function better than other addons I've found.
Book Review: Great help
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, I didn't buy this book, my wife bought it, which could easily entail an entire discussion about how the impossible can, in fact, REALLY happen...but that must wait for another time! Quick take away regarding this book: I liked it a lot!
I am a software developer turned business man, so I have a background in programming (but haven't had to write code for about 7 years now). So, from that perspective, the code sections weren't much of a problem, but getting an understanding about how WoW addons function was very helpful. I wasn't quite as interested in the early sections of the book (although it was good to know about some of the existing addons)...my interest was on creating my own addons from scratch. In that regard, the book was great, and the steps were clearly laid out on how to create the Whereabouts addon.
This book is not intended to be a complete primer on EVERYTHING you need to know about writing WoW addons, nor is is meant to be a review of every single existing addon (they change)...rather, it is a nice balance that starts with what existing addons do, and leads into what to do if you'd like to try writing one of your own. In that regard, I think the book did a very decent job!
Book Review: Should have titled it "WoW for Dummies"
Summary: 2 Stars
I agree with many of the other reviewers who felt this book's title was somewhat misleading, or at least not descriptive of its true content. However, I do understand why prospective buyers would probably prefer not to think of themselves as dummies.
In addition, this book was dated as soon as hit the shelves. As other reviewers have noted, some of the addons recommended by the authors no longer function correctly in the current version of World of Warcraft. Other recommended addons still work, but have largely fallen out of favor as newer addons with improved features have taken their places. Nevertheless, the descriptions of what the addons do and how they can be used is still a useful introduction to many concepts in WoW.
In short, I would only recommend this book to people who are:
1. afraid of talking to other players,
2. uncomfortable reading online forums and asking questions, or
3. unwilling to learn how things work by trial, error, and experience.
For any serious potential addon authors out there, you will probably learn more from looking at existing addons' code and by actually speaking with other authors.