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I write games in C (yes, C) (2016)

jonathanwhiting.com

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Re: I write games in C (yes, C) (2016)

#41

Post by pansa2 »

torlok wrote: post #20

I write mostly like I would in C, but use C++ features as needed. It ends up looking similar to Rust if you squint. All these "I write games in C" people complain about C++ features, and then end up reimplementing virtual interfaces manually with struct headers or massive switch statements, just to feel better about themselves. Writing games in C is not harder, you just have to implement modern language features by h…

Yeah, you could argue that choosing C is just choosing a particular subset of C++.

The main difference from choosing a different subset, e.g. “Google C++” (i.e. writing C++ according to the Google style guide), is that the compiler enforces that you stick to the subset.

Re: I write games in C (yes, C) (2016)

#42

Post by nasretdinov »

quotemstr wrote: post #36

> I like Go a lot. In many ways it is C revisited, taking into account what has be learnt in the long years since it was released. I would like to use it, but there are big roadblocks that prevent me. The stop-the-world garbage collection is a big pain for games, stopping the world is something you can't really afford to do. I'm no Go fan, to be clear, but GC isn't the problem with Go. It has a pretty decent GC with…

Yeah I was a bit surprised by this too. I think the post was written around 10 years ago, when it still was a genuine problem in Go.

Re: I write games in C (yes, C) (2016)

#44

Post by ternaryoperator »

pjmlp wrote: post #34
vascocosta wrote: post #4

I totally resonate with the author of the post. My main requirement to enjoy a language deeply is often simplicity, so I love languages like, C, Golang, Odin and Zig. That said, I also acknowledge that often times I need to solve problems that can benefit from a language that embraces what I call necessary complexity, but do it in elegant ways. Whenever I need to prioritise code correctness, especially memory and con…

The language is called Go, golang is the website domain.

The use of "golang" for posts and comments is desirable IMHO because it greatly facilitates search, especially on sites such as HN that cover many languages.

Re: I write games in C (yes, C) (2016)

#45

Post by vascocosta »

pjmlp wrote: post #34
vascocosta wrote: post #4

I totally resonate with the author of the post. My main requirement to enjoy a language deeply is often simplicity, so I love languages like, C, Golang, Odin and Zig. That said, I also acknowledge that often times I need to solve problems that can benefit from a language that embraces what I call necessary complexity, but do it in elegant ways. Whenever I need to prioritise code correctness, especially memory and con…

The language is called Go, golang is the website domain.

I know, but I often use Golang for two reasons: 1. avoids confusion, no matter how unlikely it is in a context like HN, and 2. search engine "findability".

Re: I write games in C (yes, C) (2016)

#46

Post by quotemstr »

nasretdinov wrote: post #42
quotemstr wrote: post #36

> I like Go a lot. In many ways it is C revisited, taking into account what has be learnt in the long years since it was released. I would like to use it, but there are big roadblocks that prevent me. The stop-the-world garbage collection is a big pain for games, stopping the world is something you can't really afford to do. I'm no Go fan, to be clear, but GC isn't the problem with Go. It has a pretty decent GC with…

Yeah I was a bit surprised by this too. I think the post was written around 10 years ago, when it still was a genuine problem in Go.

Good eye. This is why HN titles have year tags. :-)

Yeah, this is from 2016. I don't think choosing C over C++ was defensible even back then, but the critique of Go makes more sense now.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160109171250/http://jonathanwh...

Re: I write games in C (yes, C) (2016)

#47

Post by randomtoast »

torlok wrote: post #20

I write mostly like I would in C, but use C++ features as needed. It ends up looking similar to Rust if you squint. All these "I write games in C" people complain about C++ features, and then end up reimplementing virtual interfaces manually with struct headers or massive switch statements, just to feel better about themselves. Writing games in C is not harder, you just have to implement modern language features by h…

I’ve seen this play out a lot. People say they “write games in C” and then quietly rebuild half of C++ anyway with vtables in structs or giant switch statements, just without the compiler helping. That’s fine if it makes you happier, but it’s not obviously simpler or safer. Also, C++ compile times are mostly a self-inflicted wound via templates and metaprogramming, not some inherent tax you pay for having virtual functions.

Re: I write games in C (yes, C) (2016)

#49

Post by pron »

torlok wrote: post #20

I write mostly like I would in C, but use C++ features as needed. It ends up looking similar to Rust if you squint. All these "I write games in C" people complain about C++ features, and then end up reimplementing virtual interfaces manually with struct headers or massive switch statements, just to feel better about themselves. Writing games in C is not harder, you just have to implement modern language features by h…

> Complaining about a language having features you don't want is silly.

It might be silly if you're working on your own. Software that delivers a lot of value is usually developed and evolved not only by team, but by a team with changing members and changing leadership over the project's lifetime. The features used will be the union of all features used over the years, and while it's easy for team leads to allow the use of more features than their predecessors, it's quite hard to reduce them.

Also, you may be forced to use language features you don't want if they're used by libraries whose functionality you do want. For example, when doing low-level programming, I don't like implicit calls that I can't clearly see on the page (e.g. destructors or overloaded operators). But if libraries I want use them, then I'll have those implicit calls. But if the language doesn't have those features, libraries obviously won't use them.

Re: I write games in C (yes, C) (2016)

#50

Post by enricotr »

quotemstr wrote: post #33

Plenty of people cycle on a fixie too. So what? C, especially modern C, does provide metaprogramming and abstraction facilities. In practice, you can even get things like the "defer" construct from other languages: https://lwn.net/Articles/934679/ The question isn't "Can I write a game in C?". Yes, of course you can, and it's not even that painful. The question is "Why would you?", and then "Why would you brag about…

"Practically speaking" means nothing. Use "from my confused point of view", instead.
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