Memory and C++ Debugging at Electronic Arts [video]
1–10 of 71 posts
Re: Memory and C++ Debugging at Electronic Arts [video]
#2I imagine game developers are the few people left using C++. Does this come down to not being able to get around pauses in garbage collection?
I wrote a little C++ in iOS a few years ago when I thought I might try to share some code with Android. Unfortunately, Objective C++ was slow to compile. I think the biggest problem with C++ is that it's simply harder to get correct code:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/128836/InDepth_Static_Cod...
[Update]
Sure, there's a lot of code that was started 15-20 years ago that was written in C++ because it was the best thing at the time. Java's JIT has greatly improved. I'm sure C# is also great. Large apps like Hadoop are written in Java. IBM's Watson is mostly Java.
http://www.drdobbs.com/jvm/ibms-watson-written-mostly-in-jav...
Why does C++ offer advantages over C# on Windows, for instance? In 2015, starting from scratch, where is C++ needed?
Please consider that I was using C++ when it was cfront. I seem to be getting a lot of "how naive" from people who've probably never used C++. Yes, there are dozens of desktop apps in C++, especially legacy, but there are millions of apps, mobiles apps, and web apps that are in other languages.
Re: Memory and C++ Debugging at Electronic Arts [video]
#3I imagine game developers are the few people left using C++. Does this come down to not being able to get around pauses in garbage collection? I wrote a little C++ in iOS a few years ago when I thought I might try to share some code with Android. Unfortunately, Objective C++ was slow to compile. I think the biggest problem with C++ is that it's simply harder to get correct code: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/128…
At PlexChat[1], we intend on using C++ to write a lot of our infrastructure (where it makes sense, that is). The language has advanced significantly in the last decade and writing idiomatically correct, and safe code, is much easier than it used to be.[2]
Garbage collection is certainly a part of it, but really, it's about programming with a deterministic runtime. Controlling memory budgets and doing things described in this talk is possible in an environment where the programmer has control, but instrumenting a blackbox runtime to identify performance bottlenecks and pain-points can be a huge endeavor. Other languages optimize understandability of the programming semantics (what is this algorithm doing) but do very little to aid in expressing runtime semantics (how will this algorithm execute on the machine).
[1] http://plexchat.com [2] https://www.jetbrains.com/cpp-today-oreilly/books/Cplusplus_...
Re: Memory and C++ Debugging at Electronic Arts [video]
#4I imagine game developers are the few people left using C++. Does this come down to not being able to get around pauses in garbage collection? I wrote a little C++ in iOS a few years ago when I thought I might try to share some code with Android. Unfortunately, Objective C++ was slow to compile. I think the biggest problem with C++ is that it's simply harder to get correct code: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/128…
It's quite likely that C++ code rendered this web page for you. If you're on a Mac, that code was itself likely compiled using C++ code.
Re: Memory and C++ Debugging at Electronic Arts [video]
#5I imagine game developers are the few people left using C++. Does this come down to not being able to get around pauses in garbage collection? I wrote a little C++ in iOS a few years ago when I thought I might try to share some code with Android. Unfortunately, Objective C++ was slow to compile. I think the biggest problem with C++ is that it's simply harder to get correct code: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/128…
Desktop applications requiring high performance also use C++. Photoshop (and perhaps many parts of the Adobe suite?), and Tableau come to mind.
Your intuition about gc pauses is correct, when you have to push frames every 15-30 miliseconds, you can't afford any kind of unexpected pausing. Game devs also use a huge number of hacks to hit their performance targets, something that using c/c++ makes much easier due to their relative looseness.
Re: Memory and C++ Debugging at Electronic Arts [video]
#6I imagine game developers are the few people left using C++. Does this come down to not being able to get around pauses in garbage collection? I wrote a little C++ in iOS a few years ago when I thought I might try to share some code with Android. Unfortunately, Objective C++ was slow to compile. I think the biggest problem with C++ is that it's simply harder to get correct code: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/128…
Many, if not most desktop applications are written in C++. Just because you don't use it doesn't mean anyone else doesn't.
Re: Memory and C++ Debugging at Electronic Arts [video]
#7I imagine game developers are the few people left using C++. Does this come down to not being able to get around pauses in garbage collection? I wrote a little C++ in iOS a few years ago when I thought I might try to share some code with Android. Unfortunately, Objective C++ was slow to compile. I think the biggest problem with C++ is that it's simply harder to get correct code: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/128…
yeah, few people left using C++ ...
Re: Memory and C++ Debugging at Electronic Arts [video]
#8I imagine game developers are the few people left using C++. Does this come down to not being able to get around pauses in garbage collection? I wrote a little C++ in iOS a few years ago when I thought I might try to share some code with Android. Unfortunately, Objective C++ was slow to compile. I think the biggest problem with C++ is that it's simply harder to get correct code: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/128…
A major chunk of software developers use C/C++ (including a lot of Game Developers); Although lot of people see only the tip of the iceberg. Look into your systems. Almost everything down there from your database to your compiler/interpreter/VM to your operating system, your web browser, your music player, the internals of your search engine and yes your favorite games (renderer, physics, most of the gameplay) is probably being developed and maintained in C/C++.
The reason for C++ being used is not only Performance, but also a sense reliability that the implementation will actually work.
Re: Memory and C++ Debugging at Electronic Arts [video]
#9I imagine game developers are the few people left using C++. Does this come down to not being able to get around pauses in garbage collection? I wrote a little C++ in iOS a few years ago when I thought I might try to share some code with Android. Unfortunately, Objective C++ was slow to compile. I think the biggest problem with C++ is that it's simply harder to get correct code: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/128…
C++ is still very heavily used in industries where speed (and memory compactness) matter.
Games, simulation, VFX...
For example, most software used to make film movies / CG imagery: from modelling (Maya, SI), to texturing (Mari), to rendering (PRMan, Arnold, VRay, Mantra, Hyperion, Manuka), to compositing (Nuke).
And it probably will be for many years to come as there's such an infrastructure there.
Re: Memory and C++ Debugging at Electronic Arts [video]
#10I imagine game developers are the few people left using C++. Does this come down to not being able to get around pauses in garbage collection? I wrote a little C++ in iOS a few years ago when I thought I might try to share some code with Android. Unfortunately, Objective C++ was slow to compile. I think the biggest problem with C++ is that it's simply harder to get correct code: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/128…
It's not garbage collection(although that's a part of it, but Unreal3 actually had a GC).
It has to do with memory layout. Cache misses = lost performance and being able to structure your memory appropriately is super-important. Look up Mike Acton or any of the Data Oriented Design stuff for more details.