Tell me how much time you have spend to learn a programming language so good, that you thing: "yeah, i can really prog with it now!" 1. How much time do you think is necessary to learn C++ 2. "" Delphi Now I''m programming with Delphi for almost tho months now and i hope that i have learned the most until the end of the year. At the moment I''m really happy with Delphi, but everyone tells me to learn C++. I thinking about learning C++ next year. -> because of DX, WinApi... What do you think of these languages?

quote: Original post by TobiasDallmann

Tell me how much time you have spend to learn a programming language so good, that you thing: "yeah, i can really prog with it now!"

1. How much time do you think is necessary to learn C++
2. "" Delphi

Now I''m programming with Delphi for almost tho months now and
i hope that i have learned the most until the end of the year.

At the moment I''m really happy with Delphi, but everyone tells
me to learn C++.

I thinking about learning C++ next year.
-> because of DX, WinApi...

What do you think of these languages?

if your talking about creating games. No one will take you seriously if you program with delphi.

if your talking about creating games. No one will take you seriously if you program with delphi.

Why not?

it''s a good language,
compiling in native code,
for the Win32,
Linux (Kylix),
nice IDE,
VCL > MFC,
easy to use,
easy to learn...

the only advantage of C++ is the straightforward WinApi & DX
support by MS, while the Delphi Community has to translate this
headers.

Age of Wonders (80% by PCGAMES)
was developed with Delphi.

look on http://turbo.gamedev.net

Accoring to one of my many tutors while studing C / C++ programming if you learn 10 commands of a language then you can program in it, of course he started with COBOL (IIRC it only has about 12 different commands!!)

I picked up C / C++ quite quickly, say less than 6 weeks (9 - 5 5 days a week), but I know people that find it hard and they are still learning C for the past 4 years!.

As for Delphi - I''ve only used version 1 but it sucked so bad that I prefered to program tubro pascal for DOS than delphi. If it is better I may consider looking at it again but not in the forseeable future as my main interest at the moment is learning Linux and then it''s on to E.... Amiga E that is....

You could learn enough in a week to program a game of pong if you already had the mentality of a programmer and being able to program in Delphi should count for that.

However, to become a master there''s only one thing you must do.
Never stop being a student. There''s always more to learn and always improvements in your own mentality and abilities available.

Just start now and finish never.

Mike

A different Topic:
------------------

I heard there is a game programmers university
in Great Britain.

What can you say about it?

Why don''t you start a new thread then people will know what you guys r talking about

I started with plain C and it was quite easy to learn and program in. C++ on the other hand is very difficult language to learn in its entirety. Currently I'm rereading bruceeckel.com c++ book and honestly I don't know if ever I will learn all of it. The great thing about c++ is that it doesn't limit you and when you code yourself into a corner it will allow you to get out using weird language constructs. For example you can define a class inside a regular function, how's that for weird

Or if you have a void* to an array of objects allocated on the heap and you delete[] void* it won't call the destructors in those objects because it doesn't know about type. You can correct this with casting void* to object type. And other small things like the c++ compiler will call default copy constructor behind your back if you don't provide one and also an assignment operator as well. There are lot of these little things that crop up making c++ very difficult language to remember, at least for me. But, on the other hand I feel that it won't ever limit me. In c I had many functions and the flow of the program became a spaghetti code. In c++ you can modulerize your code. Maybe c++ has a limit on code greater than oh 5 million lines??? I honestly don't know.

I'm guessing but I think I use 20% to 30% of c++ right now and with that you can make almost any type of program. I've never learned one thing in its entirety. I've always learned little bit about C++, win32 and DirectX then I went and coded things. As time goes by I learn little bit more each time i.e. STL and MFC, HTML and CAD stuff. I remember when I went into my univ.bookstore picked up an intro to C book, flipped couple of pages and thought to myself "If I could only be able to read this code I would be very happy" and soon enough I was able to do that and whole lot more, so if you stick by it it will come.

Yes c++ is a very good language to learn because it's used almost anywhere and it's pretty fast only slower than C and C is slower than assembly. Many toolkits and apis in c/c++ are available.



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E-Mail: BlueOrbSoftware@mailcity.com


Edited by - JD on September 15, 2000 9:55:08 PM

The great thing about c++ is that it doesn''t limit you and when you code yourself into a corner it will allow you to get out using weird language constructs.
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Um, no, thats a bad thing, about any language.

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For example you can define a class inside a regular function, how''s that for weird
--------------------------------------

Pfft, thats nothing. In pure C you are allowed to call main recursively. In Perl, a string and a integer,float,long,etc.(scalar) are not different different types but this is perfectly legal: two different data types with the same name(an array and a scalar with the same name is legal).

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In c I had many functions and the flow of the program became a spaghetti code. In c++ you can modulerize your code
---------------------------------------

You can modularize your code in C. And this is not C vs. C++.

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What do you think of these languages?

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Learn as many languages as you can, by all means. the fact that c/c++ are the most popular languages out, means that if you are considering a job you should learn them. I also suggest some Assembly, but a little later on.

-----------------------------

A wise man once said "A person with half a clue is more dangerous than a person with or without one."

Delphi...we''re doing it in school, and IMHO it really sucks, compared to C++.
I still don''t get,why Delphi doesn''t accept Array-operators on pointer, like:
[Delphi Version:]
var pTemp : ^integer;
iArray : Array[0..0] of Integer;

begin
pTemp[2] := 1; //won''t even compile

GetMem(iArray, sizeof(integer)*5);
iArray[3] := 1;//works fine
end;

[C++ Version:]
int *pTemp;
pTemp[2] = 2; //won''t even compile in Delphi

BTW: Delphi Online Help has a really nice sentence on this topic:
It goes somewhat like "this kind of operation would work in C++ - in Delphi, it does not."....
This really makes me wonder, how much Delphi is suitable for game programming. And you will also notice that Delphi is much harder to code (who the heck invented the need to define all variables after the function header?!?!).
Or (to bring the post to a much shorter point:
I HATE Delphi...(and Kylix too *g*)

Cu Callisto