Chapter 10: Pointers, the Standard Template Library, and Texture Management
We will learn a lot as well as get plenty done in terms of the game in this chapter. We will first learn about the fundamental C++ topic of pointers. Pointers are variables that hold a memory address. Typically, a pointer will hold the memory address of another variable. This sounds a bit like a reference, but we will see how they are much more powerful and use a pointer to handle an ever-expanding horde of zombies.
We will also learn about the Standard Template Library (STL), which is a collection of classes that allow us to quickly and easily implement common data management techniques.
Once we understand the basics of the STL, we will be able to use that new knowledge to manage all the textures from the game because, if we have 1,000 zombies, we don't really want to load a copy of a zombie graphic into the GPU for each and every one.
We will also dig a little deeper into OOP and use a static...
