Game Programming Primer - Page 7

On January 18 2013 01:28 Naeth wrote:


This is not really true. It is certainly valid in game programming and similar high-level, high-complexity programming endeavours. Moreover, having learned C++ you won't have too hard a time understanding C, so "just learn C++" is sound advice.

But C is still used all over the place, mostly for academic or low-level purposes like kernel programming, drivers or any number of obscure CASs. Heck, people still use FORTRAN...

On January 20 2013 06:12 RGnt wrote:
I love how EVERY time people get hung up on language choices. C/C++ are pretty much the "standards" currently in the industry. Also, what I've found is that languages like C tends to keep programmers "honest" and teach the subtle art of actually managing the smallest detail in their code.
Personally I used to hate Java, (ironically I fell in love with C# from the get go) but I was "forced" to pick it up for UNI and now I pretty much prefer to use it for almost anything. Personally I did learn programming on C64 Basic and machine language, that was fun. . . And to this day I value the lessons I learned from the "low level" programming and am often able to do stuff more efficiently with higher level languages just because I know what happens under the hood.

So to point, forget the language and learn the art of programming, study the math and understand the algorithms

On January 18 2013 01:28 Naeth wrote:


This is not really true. It is certainly valid in game programming and similar high-level, high-complexity programming endeavours. Moreover, having learned C++ you won't have too hard a time understanding C, so "just learn C++" is sound advice.

But C is still used all over the place, mostly for academic or low-level purposes like kernel programming, drivers or any number of obscure CASs. Heck, people still use FORTRAN...

Edit: Pondering whether my stated uses of C would qualify as "rare and very specific" circumstances, I decided to restate my point: Among all languages C may have a rather low market share today, but compared to just C++ the difference is not as big as one might think. Googling for some numbers on that statement I was surprised to find that the difference is even smaller than I assumed, see this article (10/2011). Of course, there are no really reliable numbers. Plus it's not even clear what we are trying to measure here. How is "market share" defined for programming languages? :S
Nonetheless, the graphic is interesting – especially the "job postings" bar.

On February 12 2013 11:29 IRL_Sinister wrote:
Not into programming or game development at all but this was a great article, thank you.

On January 26 2013 14:07 Spyridon wrote:


It's "somewhat" true.

A lot of people in this topic are talking as from the perspective of a "game developer" as a developer building a full game engine for a game from scratch, but honestly that's not really commonplace in todays industry.

Today being a "game developer" could mean so many multitudes of different jobs, with more of them NOT about programming than the ones that are.

So the statement of "Just learn C++. C is used only in some rare and very specific circumstances nowadays." is sometimes true, but very misleading. If you are going to be a professional game developer (assuming not for your own development team) you will be joining a team that often has an engine of choice already. Contrary to popular belief, these days the engine for most games are NOT made specifically for the game. Most game development companies already have either game engines they already licensed, or they have one that their company designed specifically for the game itself. This means the language you have to know is mostly dependent on the engine you are using, and often times it's not C++, since in a professional atmosphere time = money and you want to develop in as little time as possible. Many times you need to learn a language specific to the engine itself.

Also it's not common knowledge that one of the most common jobs for game programmers these days are actually tool programmers, rather than programmers of the actual game. And its these peoples job to make editors for the game for the other "programmers" to design the gameplay itself. In terms of Starcraft, think of it as you were the person to make the Galaxy editor. Once the editor is done, the further programming work is just functions that are not already available in the editor that someone on the team needs.

Basically any game that's designed with a potential sequel in mind (most games these days) require tool programmers who are adept in the specific engine, rather than broad C++ programmers, since they make sequels much more profitable since you only need new media and minimal amounts of work on everything else. Even if you are an expert in C++ on a C++ based engine, there will still be a longer learning curve than someone who is adept in the engine and only mediocre in their C++ knowledge.

Also, if you want a job in the game industry you need to have a more specific specialty nowdays. You may be a graphics programmer specialized in shaders, you may be an engine programmer (but there arent as many of these as there used to be anymore), you may be the already mentioned tool programmer, you may specialize in optimization and trying to understand and smooth out the complexities of the game engine, you may be a network programmer, or you may specialize in adding and/or balancing game logic to an already existing game stage/level/world and do a very minimal amount of programming (which actually is the job many of the programmers who design the combat systems in games).

So to sum things up, C++ "helps" to know, or at least be familiar with, but it's a bit misleading to say C++ is used more than any other language. C/C#/various scripting languages are actually coming up in the world since tool programmers are becoming more mainstream. I wouldn't advise specializing in a specific programming language though.

My advice to anyone who wants to be a game designer? Do a little shopping on various engines and learn a few of them. You will need to learn a couple different languages based on the engine you join, and it would be good to make sure one of them is C++ focused, but also learn some that are not. You will see the things they have in common with each other, and you will also be able to easily pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of each language. But more importantly you will learn how to program specific to game development, and learn how real development works in an existing game engine. Once you do this you will probably find what specialty you like and this will enable you to be able to find out what role you would try to find in a professional development team. Furthermore, if you decide you actually want to be an engine programmer, you won't be able to create a very good engine without knowing where the bar is set for a game engine. Once you know the in's an out's of different engines, you will know what you feel you could improve on in your own engine, as well have a long list of your favorite features you encountered in each of the engines you used in the process.