I have heard a lot of praise about the python programming language. I am completely new and very little programming experience. Is python any good for game development or should I stick to learning C++? If I should stick to C++, are there any good free online books? I currently have DEV C++, is it a good compiler to learn from(I have heard it is very picky)? Thanks, Joe

Python is not as good for Game Development as C++ is.

Free Online Material(sorry, couldn''t find anything else):
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/start_here/

As for Dev C++, its...sufficent. However, if you plan on doing C++ for a living it might be a good idea to cough up the 100 or so dollars for Microsoft Visual C++ (.NET or 6.0) as it is pretty much the compiler of choice for most professional programmers.

The answer to this is not straightforward. If you are new to programming, it''s my considered opinion that C++ is not a good first language to learn. There''s a couple of reasons for that. Firstly, C++ is so full of bogus features and quirky little things to remember that it gets in the way of actually learning to program. Secondly, nearly all the learning resources for C++ teach it "the wrong way". A lot of books tend to focus on the bogus and quirky features before actually teaching you to program. It''s no wonder so many newbies end up with severe C++ brain-damage.

The book Accelerated C++ teaches C++ The Right Way, but it is not aimed at new programmers. What I suggest you do is learn Python first - it''s free, there''s some good online tutorials, and it won''t stand in the way of actually programming. Once you feel comfortable with Python, you might like to consider obtaining Accelerated C++, to make the language switch. I haven''t programmed games with Python, so I can''t comment on that, but I''m pretty sure it will be sufficient to let you learn the fundamentals of game programming, if not more.

Look for PyGame. Ask Google.

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Thanks to Kylotan for the idea!