how to start game programming

hi folks

about a yr ago i was googl`ing the same pharses. though i am not sure ,have i found the right solution or not , i have found a path which would lead me to become a game programmer.

I am person who was awed by gaming right from the first pacman game i played at the age of 10.Always curious to know about the stuff that's behind the screen.

So i decided to become a game programmer after getting a graduation from the basic computer science degree.I felt its never too late to start ur career in game programming if you are good at basic computers programming and good geometry maths .It is not necessary that you have to be a hardcore gamer to become a game programmer.Being passionate and motivated will do.

Now the problem is always where to start.

there are few basic stuff you should be sure about:

• As C++ is the widely used programming language in most of the industries, and its is the low level programming which never compromises on the performance.
• Learn the fundamentals other and OOP these include:Variables,Conditional Statements,Loops,Functions,Return values,Parameter passing.
• Good book i would suggest is the Effective C++ (there are many other good books out there).
• There are two important api's OpenGL and DirectX.(Others),are the widely used and starter's friendly
• I would definitely recomend OpenGL.OpenGL library are GLUT,Gxbase,etc(alternatives) which takes care of all usual and necessary problems related when creating a window application.
• One of the most preferred IDE working environment is Visual studio has a set of handy tools to start with.

The above mentioned points are just to set up the environment to start with , To actually start with the game development start follow some of the good free sites offer tutorials like

NEHE,GPWiki,video tutorials(my fav).

As i have just started my game programming studies i will keep posting many such guides along my studies.

for now happy new year 2010!.