Author's Foreword
This book exists because of a simple truth: RoboWiki is an incredible treasure, built by a passionate community over decades, but it can be overwhelming for newcomers. The Book of Robocode aims to distill that wisdom into something more structured, approachable, and easy to reference.
Why This Book?
RoboWiki has been the beating heart of the Robocode community. It holds deep technical knowledge, hard-earned insights, and countless hours of experimentation from brilliant bot programmers. The community that built and maintained it deserves immense respect and gratitude.
But RoboWiki grew organically. Articles vary in depth, structure, and assumed knowledge. For someone new to Robocode, it can be hard to know where to start or how concepts connect. Even experienced players sometimes struggle to find quick, clear explanations when they need them.
This book is meant to complement RoboWiki, not replace it. It takes the classic topics — targeting, movement, radar strategies, energy management — and presents them in a unified, progressive structure. Each page is short, focused, and written with beginners in mind, while still offering depth for advanced readers.
Goals of This Book
The Book of Robocode has three main goals:
- Make Robocode accessible. Lower the barrier for students, hobbyists, and educators who want to dive into bot programming without feeling lost.
- Create a central reference. Provide a single place where concepts are explained clearly and consistently, making it easier to link from Robocode (classic) and Robocode Tank Royale documentation.
- Preserve and organize community knowledge. Distill the best ideas from RoboWiki and present them in a way that respects the original work while making it easier to teach and learn.
A Bridge Between Classic and Modern
Robocode has evolved. The classic Java-based platform inspired a generation of programmers. Robocode Tank Royale brings that same spirit to multiple languages and modern architectures. This book covers both platforms, showing how core concepts apply universally while pointing out platform-specific details when they matter.
Whether you are coding in Java, C#, Python, or planning to try another supported language, the strategies and physics explained here will help you build better bots.
A Thank You to the Community
This book would not exist without RoboWiki and the community that built it. Every formula, strategy, and insight here has roots in the collective work of hundreds of contributors. If this book helps you learn Robocode, remember that you are standing on the shoulders of a dedicated and generous community.
Now, let's build some bots.
— Flemming N. Larsen
Creator of Robocode Tank Royale and longtime maintainer of classic Robocode