Understanding the Odin Programming Language book cover. It's blue with the name in big print. The author's name (Karl Zylinski) is at the bottom right.
Understanding the Odin Programming Language by Karl Zylinski

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

Then this book is for you.

Read a sample or buy now

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

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

A programming language is a tool. By understanding your tools, you will become a better craftsperson. Therefore, this book does not just explain how to write Odin code. It also explains why the language works the way it does.

What people say:

I highly recommend Karl Zylinski's excellently written book on Odin—perfect for anyone who wants to learn and understand the Odin programming language. -Bill "gingerBill" Hall, creator of Odin.
Karl makes a great job at explaining Odin. I had a good experience with garbage collected language like Golang and the book really helped me to transition to a non garbage collected language like Odin. -Review on store.zylinski.se by Kevin D.
I never read, I get distracted easily. But the writing style here is so good, that I didn't have any issues reading through the whole thing in a couple days. -Review on store.zylinski.se by Shaka.

Version 1.8 released! Read the release notes.

Available formats:

HTML

Shows how the book looks in the HTML format. There's a heading saying 'Parametric polymorphism'. There is some text and some extra information bubbles on the side. There is also some code near the bottom of the image.

Beautifully laid out and easy to navigate. A portable HTML file with all the fonts and images baked in. Similar to a PDF, but nicer to use.

The optimal reading experience on a computer. Can also be read on a phone or tablet.

Available on:
store.zylinski.se HTML+eBook Itch HTML+eBook

Read a sample

eBook

Shows an Amazon Kindle with the book open. There's an illustration visible, some headings and a bit of code.

Specially suited for e-readers and eBook apps.

Nice and simple layout. Includes all illustrations and supports color.

Available on:
store.zylinski.se HTML+eBook Itch HTML+eBook Amazon Kindle eBook Google Books

If you are unsure of which version to get, then I recommend buying it from store.zylinski.se or Itch. On there you'll get both the HTML and eBook versions.

Overview video

Release notes

Version 1.8

Strings chapter overhaul

This version does some major changes to the strings chapter (chapter 11). It has been heavily revised and expanded. Some changes are:

Changes to other chapters

Get the latest version by just re-downloading the book from wherever you bought it.

Version 1.7
Version 1.6
Version 1.5

I have read the whole book, essentially doing an extra editing pass. I've made a huge amount of changes that make the text clearer. Here are some of the bigger changes:

Version 1.4
Version 1.3
Version 1.2
Version 1.1 Released shortly after 1.0. Fixes a bunch of typos.

About the author

A picture of the author Karl Zylinski. He is standing among autumn leaves.

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).

Karl has a bachelor's degree in astrophysics. In his free time he likes to play video games, hike, go bouldering and play piano.

Visit his website and blog at zylinski.se.

Chat about Odin and game development on his Discord server.