What do you think is the best language to get started on? I am learning C++ cause I wanna make video games in a few months....What do you think about it? Thanks -ALex

that''s a big can of worms to open up here (again). i recommend c++ (only because that''s what i use). but a few months is a short time to get anything really cool done.

crazy166

some people think i'm crazy, some people know it

If you''re learning, then not enough can be said about straight up, standard C. I would recommend Delphi, but I''ve never even touched it (and, a few months isn''t really enough to master two languages, or one for that matter).

Try to get both C/C++ as much down-pat as you can. If you only want to learn one, stick with C++, but have a C tutorial with you. While you learn different concepts in C++, it''ll be no more than a few more/less keystrokes to convert it over to C. That way, you''ll have both the languages down, you can use just about every programming tutorial out there, and you''ll have one fat resume! (as well as knowledge to create a game, but I doubt you can create a game [with your experience] within a few months!)

Programming::~Fredric(const Annoy_Ance)

Well... I guess all I have to say is that I don''t think there''s much chance of you making anything in a few months, yes it''s possible, but from the way you said it it seems like you''re doing it because you want to show off to your friends or something because of a bet (that''s actually how I got into it ). If your deadset on a few months then what''ll end up happening is you''ll not learn anything and then just pirate a copy of "Pie in the Sky Software"''s crappy little doom-style game maker and make yourself a crappy game where the enemies are smiley faces (my friend did this, and he hasn''t improved from this stage in, oh, 5 years...) That''s just my 1/2 cents that you probably didn''t read, well, I guess if you read that then you have read this as well and probably are paying no regard to my comment.

If, however, you are seriously considering learning a programming language and making games, I suggest starting with straight C, and moving up to C++ when the time is right.

--the Rabid_Stick

I'm going to have to disagree with everyone else here and suggest starting with Java for the simple reason that it virtually forces good coding style. If you start with a functional language (C or Pascal) you can easily get into habit of hacking your way out any problems you have. Thats how I started and my code was always a mess. Even after learning C++ it took me quite a while to stop hacking my way out of trouble rather than having a good extensible design. Can you make games with Java? Sure. Quake 3? No. But the point is that you have to be a good programmer before you can be a good game programmer. After you get comfortable writing programs in Java, then you should switch to C++.

"Fight the entropy." -John Carmack

The Timdog

Edited by - Timdog on 3/12/00 6:47:35 AM

I agree with Timdog. Java is the best language to start with. You''ll learn how to program without having to fight with the peculiarities of C/C++ (pointers, type conversion etc). When you are comfortable with Java the step over to C++, is not that big since it''s basically the same syntax.

Remember this: To learn programming is not to learn a language it is to learn a new way of thinking, the language is just there to express your thoughts.

I still think that BASIC is the best beginners programming language. Java would be a good second programming language, followed by perhaps Pascal. But start to learn C/C++ as soon as you can for one simple reason: almost all sample code is given in either C or C++, and you should know enough to read it.

To clarify one point: Timdog stated that C and Pascal are functional languages. Stricitly speaking C and Pascal are more properly labeled procedural languages. Functional languages refer to a entirely different set of languages such as Scheme, LISP, or ML that are *entirerly* unsuited for game programming.

Whoops, SiCrane is right on that... sorry for he mistake. You REALLY don''t want to program in Lisp. hehe. Although I would like to see how warped a programmer would end up if they started programming in a wacky language like Lisp or ML and then switched to C++. However, I think experiments like that are outlawed 47 states

Later,
The Timdog

quote:
Although I would like to see how warped a programmer would end up if they started programming in a wacky language like Lisp or ML and then switched to C++. However, I think experiments like that are outlawed 47 states.

Aparantly not in Illinois. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I did my undergrad, the first computer science class in the major was in Scheme. The second class was in C++. We produced some *very* warped programmers. Actually we also produced a lot of ex-computer science majors in english and rhetoric.