What is next after C++?

[doallen194]

I am complete C++ what i do next to learn for Game Development

 

[tatteredpotato]

I am complete C++ what i do next to learn for Game Development

Define complete C++

 

[Gamingphreek]

Seriously! What do you mean you have learned C++. I've been programming in C/C++ for 7 years now (Java for 5) and I still don't know near all of it.

As for game development, make sure you are familiar with the DirectX and OpenGL API's.

-Kevin

 

[Cogman]

Aye, "learning" C++ can mean a whole host of things.

If you really want to do game development, I recommend reading up on algorithm development, linear algebra, and Opengl/DirectX

 

[Ancalagon44]

Whats next after C++? C+++ of course.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Aye, "learning" C++ can mean a whole host of things.

If you really want to do game development, I recommend reading up on algorithm development, linear algebra, and Opengl/DirectX

Then don't forget books on Game Design (you know, making a game fun).

 

[Net]

how well do you know the STL?

 

[Cogman]

how well do you know the STL?

ooh, that is a good one to know. I would also suggest learning the Win32 API (or XLib if you like)

 

[tatteredpotato]

Personally if you're new to programming and want to do game dev, I would strongly recommend using something managed like XNA first. The API is simpler, the language (C#) is simpler (sometimes), and you don't have to worry about memory management for the time being. The cool thing about XNA too is that you can deploy to Windows, Xbox 360, Zune and soon WinMo 7.

Once you've figured out the basics of game development in a managed environment then you can start looking at DirectX/OpenGL. It's really up to you though, but it's easy to get overwhelmed if you try to bite off too much at once.

 

[degibson]

Seriously! What do you mean you have learned C++. I've been programming in C/C++ for 7 years now (Java for 5) and I still don't know near all of it.

This, with different constants.

 

[Kirby]

Define complete C++

I think he did.

I am complete C++

 

[Shilohen]

Although I agree about learning Open GL, DirectX and Windows API, it may or not be a priority, depending what you'll be developing. Most games today use engines and using those is involves mainly scripting specific the the given engine. That being said, most engines also allow developers to add C++ code if needed so you certainly did not learn C++ for nothing. If, on the other hand, you want to develop your own game engine then you absolutely need to DirectX and Windows API.

You should also learn 3D modeling. 3D Studio Max is quite simple to learn and very powerful, Maya is a bit more complicated, but has a bit more features, Blender is ok, but free as opposed to the two others, at least from legal channels.

 

[tatteredpotato]

I think he did.

Touché

 

[dinkumthinkum]

C+=2 of course.

 

[Ariste]

C+=2 of course.

Lol.

 

[geekender]

C++ incremented is C# (aka C++ ++)
I would head there next.

Alternatively start with Alice and move into Java. (or do both)

 

[Cogman]

C++ incremented is C# (aka C++ ++)
I would head there next.

Alternatively start with Alice and move into Java. (or do both)

# could also be thought of as two + signs overlapping.

 

[Markbnj]

# could also be thought of as two + signs overlapping.

C++ with all the messy stuff squeezed out of it.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Objective C of course, all future apps will only reside on the iPhone.

 

[McCartney]

Dear God Schradenfroh, Lord have mercy on thy soul!!

Nothing is after C++. It is the most complete, well built language I have come to love.

Starting with bare C, I never thought I would warm up to C++ and its bells and whistles. Things like Vectors, and other elegant data structures scared me away from Java. I know how to program proficiently in Java, but did I want to? Absolutely not!

Learning C++ through ACM competitions is incredibly useful.
I love it for allowing me to keep my ugly C programming style intact. It also gives me some well defined performance metrics that are true to their asymptotic convergence while saving me from doing it a bit less efficiently myself.

C++, you allow me to program at both the low system level, and the high OOP level. Don't you ever change. You complete me.

Signed McCartney

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

How is babby formed?

 

[postmortemIA]

Nothing, stay on C++ or master C. If you like what C/C++ are used for, you won't like C# or Java. Frankly, after 5+ years of using each, I am not sure if C# or Java are "upgrades" to C++.

 

[debrah.h48]

The industry is spinning in circles inventing one "curly brace" language after another - C++, Java, C#, ... The popular object-oriented programming languages of today fatally remind us of the heyday of procedural languages: in the 60ies, a cluster of very similar languages (Fortran, PL/I, COBOL, Algol) dominated the IT business, until the advent of C changed the world. Finally, a language invented by programmers for programmers! C was a revolution; Java and C# are just evolution. Where is the C language of our times?



Hardly anybody will claim that Java or C# are revolutionary programming languages that changed the way we write programs. Especially the new kid on the block - C# - is so extremely redundant that one wonders why both Java and C# are in existence. Do we really need yet another curly brace language? Why would anybody want to explore a "novel" language that offers the old set of language features? Yes, there are some minor differences between C# and Java: C# does not have an equivalent to Java's nonstatic inner classes; Java does not treat events and delegates as first-class members of a type; C# has user-defined value types. Fine! But the list of commonalities is significantly longer than the list of differences. C# borrowed a lot from Java - and vice versa. Now that C# supports boxing and unboxing, we'll have a very similar feature in Java. Have we desperately been waiting for autoboxing in Java? Certainly not. Perhaps, we've been eagerly awaiting Java generics, which - surprise, surprise - look pretty much like generics in C#. Alas, if at least they were the same! But no, every language designer can't resist and must do a little different in order to demonstrate that his language feature is more convenient, more effecient, more powerful, ... well, just better ... than the corresponding one in the "other" language.



Is the existence of redundant languages any good? Does it help programmers in any way? Do we profit from having a choice between Java and C#? In contrast to the respective language designers we do not believe that one language is superior to the other. The fact that Java and C# are so similar is tiring and the fact that they are different makes it even worse.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Is the existence of redundant languages any good? Does it help programmers in any way? Do we profit from having a choice between Java and C#? In contrast to the respective language designers we do not believe that one language is superior to the other. The fact that Java and C# are so similar is tiring and the fact that they are different makes it even worse.

It's competition and competition always drives better products. Neither Sun or Microsoft are trying to sell a language, but rather they are trying to "sell" a platform. Look at the code put out on both sides that facilitate rapid development/prototyping and you see where the differences lie.

IMO Microsoft is better at making a "clean" and more intuitive API, and as well as tightly integrating the .NET platform with windows so managed apps appear seamless. Java on the other hand dominates the cross platform and open source sectors of the industry.

I feel that you put too much emphasis on the language and the syntax, when the important thing is what supports them.

 

[degibson]

Is the existence of redundant languages any good? Does it help programmers in any way? Do we profit from having a choice between Java and C#? In contrast to the respective language designers we do not believe that one language is superior to the other. The fact that Java and C# are so similar is tiring and the fact that they are different makes it even worse.

Very good response, debrah.h48. On the offhand chance you will become a regular contributor to our forum, welcome!

Now, my take on the above:
Turing completeness may make most languages equivalent functionally, but most of us don't write in BrainF*ck. Similarly, all screwdrivers drive screws, but most of us still retain a phillips, a flathead, and one of those stupid star-shaped screwdrivers for the occasional iconoclast screw. Languages are like screwdrivers: use the right language for the right job.

Where's Ken when I need him? ASM has its place, even today in our age of compilers. C still has its place, even today in our age of managed runtimes. C# and Java have their place, in our age of McProgrmmer programmers. Python and Perl have their place, in our age of high-productivity coding.

Within a curly-brace language, I agree the variety hardly matters functionally. There are high-level tradeoffs to consider in selecting among the disjoint sets {C/C++}, {Java/C#}, and only practical reasons to prefer a given language from either set. There are platform-specific considerations, and expertise-specific considerations, and tool-availability-specific considerations, and target-platform considerations, and target-audience considerations, but those I agree are not inherent to the language.