Good programming language to learn?

[Kayne]

I learnt Visual Basic in the second half of this year, When I tried making games though, I found it pretty limiting, (i.e I couldn't have more than 2 buttons being pressed without one interupting the other)

I did make a pokemon battle game, however,

That was at school aswell, So I didn't get much chances to really get into it.
But, After it I've found that I like programming :>

I want to get into a programming language that is very useful / all rounder, Idk.. Wouldn't mind being able to write code for source game mapping?


In short.

Suggest a good program language that is widely used, and can be used for making games.

Don't worry about it being "easy"... I'm sure I'll manage lol.

And if you can, (be f**ked), Link tutorials/programs that you think would be helpful / Helped you :>

[Pyromanik]

C

[Kayne]

C.

Is C different to C++?

Or is one just a more advanced form, I.e Know one, pretty much know the other?

[Pyromanik]

Well, to be less of a cunt, most games engines are programmed in C++, with extensive use of python or lua scripting to create all the game mechanics, etc.


And yes, C is different to C++

C++ is an incrementation of the C language which adds all sorts of nifty tricks like object orientation.
I had a lecurer who used to say "C isn't much more than a structured assembly language."
It's generally used for speed, etc, which is reasonably critical in high power games (and embedded devices, etc).

Smaller stuff is usually coded in whatever, java on phones and net apps, etc. Flash/Actionscript is also pretty popular.
Microsoft's C# is coming more into the mix these days, due to the dramatic rise in popularity of the DirectX renderer, and then the XNA game dev studio libraries on top of that.
Spacemonkey has a lot of experience with XNA. I've never used a microsoft specific framework.

[Kayne]

You still recommend to learn C though, or at least learn C first?

[Pyromanik]

I think C is a fantastic language, but it's not a nice place to start.
Having said that, I started with C++, though I wasn't teaching myself by the time I got any decent with it.

Your best bet is really to learn something like Python.
There are plenty of open source engine projects that utilise it to create games.
Or lua.

C will force you to learn all sorts of shit about memory management on top of the language, because if you don't you're fucked.

I say start small and ramp up. You can learn a tonne of shit at uni or tech about how the more difficult stuff works. But using something like Python and running with an existing project will get you a shoe in.


Again, having said this, I've touched neither python or lua, because I'm a dick.

[Pyromanik]

You still recommend to learn C though, or at least learn C first?

Oh, but again, to directly answer this question: C++ is similar to C, but not the same. To go from C++ to C, you need to forget some stuff, and learn new (more oldschool) ways of doing things. Subtle differences.

Not difficult though. Know one, you can use the other for basic stuff no problem once you learn to printf() instead of cout <<

[Catalyst]

start with something easy like python

[Kayne]

cool Cheers,

I've downloaded Phython and am currently printing stuff

[Greaver]

I'm just learning VB at the moment, nice and easy, my programming mates recommend learning C++ first then C but I suppose if you want to jump in the deep end.

Memory management seems far too involved for me, I don't want to take programming that far, just to able to use it as a resource to create handy apps for arduous tasks.

[Pyromanik]

C at the basic end (read: beginning to learn) is no more complex than C++.
But learning C++ will teach you object oriented design.
But Java will probably do a better job of that.

Depends on the person doing the job, and the job they're doing.

For example: Sounds like you might be better off using shell scripting Greaver.
But then I hear .bat files can be a cunt. BASH ftw. Again I'd probably use Python, if I knew it.

[Bell]

I'd start with a script like lua or python to get some shit working quickly and easily.
Getting a basic grasp of scripting will allow you to fool around with modding etc.
Then move to C# if you want to take it further and learn OO and current programming practices.
Then I'd do a little bit of C++ if you want to be a professional programmer.

Realistically you could stay with C# since the largest proportion of programmer jobs are C# but I think all programmers should have some grasp of memory management and C++ is good for getting to grips with that.

[Pyromanik]

I love C for what it teaches (and inadvertently enforces). Helps so much when using a higher level language IMO.
God I miss proper hacking.

[Greaver]

For example: Sounds like you might be better off using shell scripting Greaver.
But then I hear .bat files can be a cunt. BASH ftw. Again I'd probably use Python, if I knew it.

Aww yeah I will take that into consideration, cheers

[toofast]

c#. Personally i find it a lot easier and simpler that c/c++ to use. Plus as a noob, its not hard to learn c#, since msdn have a great help database.

Plus with c#, you can go visual c#, and have a gui(form) going in seconds.

[Pyromanik]

That's what QT is for

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

What kind of Visual Basic did you do? Visual Basic .Net, or old Visual Basic 6?

If you did .Net, C# would be a good direction to go it as it's the same .net framework.


C# - ASP.NET for jobs

C# - XNA for hobby game development on Windows/xbox

php for web stuff

C++ for (professional Game Development) {}


SQL if you're boring and have no life (no offence to sql people)


If you still have your email account from your uni, you might be able to go to dreamspark and download the full version of visual studio.

[Kayne]

Visual Basic 6 sounds the most familiar.

By the looks of Python, I'm not quite sure if i'll be happy with using it.

I enjoyed the fact that I could see what I was doing with Visual basic. As in, If i wanted something to be somewhere, I could just click drag it there. If I wanted to move it i'ld just input co ordinates.

Python is looking to be just trial and error atm, Unless there is some better interface than a (dos like) box

[Pyromanik]

TBH, all programming is what you're doing now. Not often are there any gui's for making gui's.
You need to learn the code to make them manually.
If you did any other language it'd still be the same to begin with.

This is not a bad thing though, it teaches you more about the underlying aspects.
What you're used to seeing is what we call a "RAD", Rapid Application Development tool.

It's like using dreamweaver to make websites instead of a notepad type application.
You get a website, but underneath it's messay and nasty shit, and you don't have the knowledge to fix it if something goes wrong. Not using a RAD can help you understand and learn how to fix issues should they arise.

However, Python does have bindings for MANY different toolkits. Lots for making GUI's. I'm not sure about drag and drop... but there might even be a development environment out there that supports that too.

http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/software/pyqt/intro
http://www.pygtk.org/
http://www.wxpython.org/

But tbh I wouldn't touch any of those yet.

[Kayne]

oh okay, Thats completely fine then

[Pyromanik]

Knowing Python's popularity there must be oodles of beginners tutorials out there that can help you along.
Find some of them and have a crack :>

Remember though, it's important to understand why and how, not just what you need to type to make something work

[Spoonguard]

Malbodge

[thatGUyAswell]

C# ftw, especial for beginner, also Xna is really nice too, just starting the first planing of a online 3d rpg game with a friend. I wouldn't start on c or c++ if your self-teaching.

To my knowledge c# was brought out to replace vb. Schools should start teaching it instead of vb.

[Kayne]

Hmms Problems has convinced me to learn c# since it seems to be most popular, and Python seems to need other programming languages to work well.

TBH, I actually want to learn alot of programming languages, including Java, Lua and now, Python.

[Codex]

if you can pick up c or c++ as a first language, you can dominate the world.