Starting with C++? LOOK HERE IF WONDERING

[Raptor Jesus]

Well, I made this thread because I guarantee this forums will have over 9000 threads saying "to maek 1337 stuffs i need c++ halp pl0x" so I'm just going to say this:

C++ is a very hard language to learn well. Only attempt if you program all the time or you're not on windows. If you are just starting and you have windows, go ahead and use VB for casual stuff, or if you're serious about it, start with C#, then go to C++. Even Python is a good language to start with before C++. If you don't have windows, go ahead and try starting with Python or just right into C++.

[VirTuOso]

lmao, i love it how you start all of your posts with "words of wisdom" from new users =]

[InsideSin]

If you're serious than just get into C++ right away. It's better to start of fresh without any bad habits. Honestly you can get into C++ without C# or C if you have a good book to learn from.

[VirTuOso]

I actually started off with lame batch files, moved on to Visual Basics, and eventually started C, C++, And C# at the same time, not much difference in the lanugage but hard to keep track of what goes where.

[Stephon]

C++ isn't super hard(unless your retarded). Learning any programming language takes time. knowing PHP or any other language can help greatly. But the basics of C++ only take about a month to knock down(just really depends how fast you can learn and remember).

Don't waste your time on VB or C#!

[InsideSin]

C++ isn't super hard(unless your retarded). Learning any programming language takes time. knowing PHP or any other language can help greatly. But the basics of C++ only take about a month to knock down(just really depends how fast you can learn and remember).

Don't waste your time on VB or C#!

Amen?

[MrD.]

C++ isn't super hard(unless your retarded).

The difficulty in C++ doesn't come from the syntax, it comes from peoples understanding (or lack their-of) of managed memory allocation/de-allocation and pointers. Get a good grasp of managed memory and pointers first and you should be good to go.

Don't waste your time on VB or C#!

There's nothing really wrong with learning C# first, if you're interested in games there's also XNA which uses C#. Given, after years of working with C++, going back to C# is like having my fully automatic shotgun replaced with a water pistol, but still, a water pistol teaches you the basics of aiming and firing and is far less intimidating to those who have never used a weapon before

[InsideSin]

The difficulty in C++ doesn't come from the syntax, it comes from peoples understanding (or lack their-of) of managed memory allocation/de-allocation and pointers. Get a good grasp of managed memory and pointers first and you should be good to go.

Don't waste your time on VB or C#!

There's nothing really wrong with learning C# first, if you're interested in games there's also XNA which uses C#. Given, after years of working with C++, going back to C# is like having my fully automatic shotgun replaced with a water pistol, but still, a water pistol teaches you the basics of aiming and firing and is far less intimidating to those who have never used a weapon before

But rather than well I can't exactly say "wasting" your time learning C# because learning any language isn't a waste of time, you could put better use to your time by learning C++ first.

I also haven't seen any eye catching games made using XNA. Just some 2D and half-assed 3D ones. The best game I've seen made with XNA is called "The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai". Sounds stupid but look it up on youtube and you can see the designer put some effort into it.

[MrD.]

I also haven't seen any eye catching games made using XNA. Just some 2D and half-assed 3D ones.

I really don't think you can expect someone to make an XNA game that has the same quality as a AAA game, especially the ones that are on the 360 since there is an file-size restriction on the final game. That said, you can't judge a book by it's cover, Narbacular Drop was the game that eventually became Portal, and I have never managed to play through NB since it always crashes before I finish it. It has a fair few random bugs, but it went on to become something great and proves that an average game with an awesome concept can lead to something fantastic.

XNA is typically used by teams of a few people with the scope of just making a small game. I guess you also have to remember that XNA is not a game engine, merely a programming framework geared towards games; this means you essentially have to write your game engine with it (or find an existing one). I've been using XNA since it first came out and I find it great for prototyping things, but don't tend to use it for anything more serious than that.

The best game I've seen made with XNA is called "The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai".

I remember that, the guys from Microsoft game into our Uni to demo XNA when it was first released and that was one of the things they showed us. I think their quote was something like "So we gave some guys a game framework to play with, and one of the first things we got back was an ultra violent hack-a-thon. I guess that says a lot about our industry"

[Vepashka]

Common, C++ isn't so hard, if you really want to learn C++, also it is ok be on Windows and still code in cpp, but I suggest using Linux