Game Engine Architecture

I would split the books into two categories: those that improve the way you structure your code and deliver a software solution, and those that improve your technical understanding of the software platform and the computer you're using. The first are books like Pragmatic Programmer, Mythical Man Month, Code Complete, Design Patterns, talks by Alan Kay on software systems and OOP, even Game Engine Architecture etc. A lot of the content there is distilled experience which is much faster to learn from a book than gain the hard way on the job. The other books are practical deep dives. Here I would recommend a variety of books like Inside the Machine by Stokes, Computer Architecture by Hennessy, 21st Century C by Klemens, Crafting Interpreters by Nystrom, Compilers by Aho, Effective Java, Nature of Code by Shiffman, Ray Tracing Challenge by Buck, Hands on Hacking by Hickey, and others, depending on your interest and area of focus.

3 so far: 1. Elements of Computing Systems 2. On Lisp 3. Game Engine Architecture Edit: 2 -> 3

I would not advise anyone to try to get into computer graphics directly with the Vulkan or DX12 APIs. Start with DX11, modern OpenGL and/or WebGL, and work through your computer graphics theory (and a lot of practice) using those. Geometry, illumination, shaders, tools and GPU computation will take a lot of time to master. When you decide you want to go into low level APIs, if you are comfortable with Apple systems, Metal will likely be easier than Vulkan/DX12. A lot of the theory from classic books is still valid, so even a copy of Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice will look fine on your desk. "Real Time Rendering" by Moller/Haines and "Physically Based Rendering" by Pharr are excellent. "Game Engine Architecture" by Gregory and "Mathematics for 3D Game Programming and Computer Graphics" by Lengyel will probably prove very useful and relevant to you as well.…