I've been reading some of the C++ hate that's been on HN of late. I've been successfully convinced (not that it was hard) that C++ is a really terrible language. But, if that's the case, then what else are commercial game developers to use? Is pure C sufficient? What about Haskell, or is that too slow?
Ask HN: If C++ is so bad, what should game developers use?
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Re: Ask HN: If C++ is so bad, what should game developers use?
#2What kind of game are you writing? If you're just a hobbyist, you might want to try a popular choice like python. (Pygame is insanely well known.)
Re: Ask HN: If C++ is so bad, what should game developers use?
#3What kind of game are you writing? If you're just a hobbyist, you might want to try a popular choice like python. (Pygame is insanely well known.)
I edited the original post. I'm interested in commercial game projects. Real games, the kinds that you see in shops for PS and XBox etc.
Re: Ask HN: If C++ is so bad, what should game developers use?
#4XNA is great, but your games will only be compatible with windows(and xBox).
Haskell is definetely not a good idea.
Re: Ask HN: If C++ is so bad, what should game developers use?
#5What kind of game are you writing? If you're just a hobbyist, you might want to try a popular choice like python. (Pygame is insanely well known.)
I edited the original post. I'm interested in commercial game projects. Real games, the kinds that you see in shops for PS and XBox etc.
Use what most developers are using for the gaming platform of interest.
Re: Ask HN: If C++ is so bad, what should game developers use?
#6Don't let them scare you away... C++ is fine if you use what you need and take the time to actually understand the tools you're using.
Re: Ask HN: If C++ is so bad, what should game developers use?
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
I edited the original post. I'm interested in commercial game projects. Real games, the kinds that you see in shops for PS and XBox etc.
Use what most developers are using for the gaming platform of interest.
Isn't that C++? (I'm not very learned, here, I'm really asking about this for a friend).
Re: Ask HN: If C++ is so bad, what should game developers use?
#8XNA is great, but your games will only be compatible with windows(and xBox). Haskell is definetely not a good idea.
Why is Haskell a bad idea?
Re: Ask HN: If C++ is so bad, what should game developers use?
#9I'm with you. Whatever you use, don't choose C++. Sure, everyone on your programming team knows C++ already. Yeah, your libraries are all written in it. And successful games have used it again and again. But if it's not one of the "cool" languages, you shouldn't be using it.
Modern game developers should code in Ruby/Lisp. By the time you've finished coding all of your graphics libraries from scratch, Moore's law will have made computers fast enough to run them.
Re: Ask HN: If C++ is so bad, what should game developers use?
#10Don't let them scare you away... C++ is fine if you use what you need and take the time to actually understand the tools you're using.
Why is C++ suddenly "fine" when you have no other options? There could easily be a language with all the close-to-the-metal advantages and none of the baroque, redundant complexity of C++; why must we be content to use the same language as everyone else in the industry, rather that scratching this itch and building a newer, more productive one?