Understanding the Odin Programming Language

Karl Zylinski

Dec 2024 · Karl Zylinski

About this ebook

Do you want to learn the Odin Programming Language and demystify low-level programming?

Understanding the Odin Programming Language teaches both basic and advanced concepts. You'll learn about variables, constants, procedures, manual memory management, parametric polymorphism, data-oriented design, and much more.

A programming language is a tool. By understanding your tools, you will become a better craftsperson. Therefore, on top of how to write Odin code, this book also provides explanations of why things work the way they do.

The target audience is anyone with some programming experience. Odin is a simple yet powerful language, making it a great introduction to low-level programming, regardless of your programming background.

Chapters:

1. Introduction

2. Hellope! A tiny program

3. Variables and constants

4. Some additional basics

5. Making new types

6. Pointers

7. Procedures and scopes

8. Fixed-memory containers

9. Introduction to manual memory management

10. More container types

11. Strings

12. Implicit context

13. Making manual memory management easier

14. Parametric polymorphism: Writing generic code

15. Bit-related types

16. Error handling

17. Package system and code organization

18. You don't need a build system

19. Reflection and Run-Time Type Information (RTTI)

20. Data-oriented design

21. Making C library bindings (Foreign Function Interface)

22. Debuggers

23. Odin features you should avoid

24. A tour of the core collection

25. Libraries for creating video games

26. Things I did not cover

27. Where to find more Odin resources

28. Thanks for reading!

29. Appendix A: Handle-based array

30. Appendix B: Using only fixed arrays

31. Appendix C: gui_dropdown from CAT & ONION

32. Appendix D: Box2D and raylib

33. About the author

Ratings and reviews

Thanks for the book! Really great explanation of all necessary for Odin beginners concepts. Chapter about allocators is my favorite so far :thumbsup

About the author

Karl Zylinski is an independent game developer and programming educator. He is the author of Understanding the Odin Programming Language, a book that teaches Odin in an approachable way. Karl is the creator of the video game CAT & ONION. It was the first commercial video game made in the Odin Programming Language. He also runs a YouTube channel where he shares educational material on Odin and game development.

In the past Karl has worked as a game engine programmer at Our Machinery, Bitsquid and Autodesk. He has also worked as a game programmer at Hazelight (A Way Out) and Friendly Foe (SOULBOUND).