what language to start with ?

[Fredrikmikael]

hello, please don't hate on me for saying this but i want to become a game programmer, my plan now is finish ICT and work 2years as an IT apprentice and go back to school 1 year at supplementary, and after that go to college and study game programming for 3years. might be some high goals but i my dream is creating games. not like battlefield or assassin's creed.

but small indie platform games and such.

i do know the job market for game programming is harsh (since many people's dream is to become a game dev) but it's just something about making something that you put your heart in and watch it grow into an awesome work of art.

i have knowledge in HTML, CSS and very little JS/php. not that it's relevent but i just wanted to put it out there so you guys know that i know learning programming from scratch is very hard and time consuming.

 

allmost everything is made with C++ / java and i want to learn c++ as it is more resource efficient, plainly better.. etc..

but i think jumping directly into C++ will bring me alot of headaches.

 

So what should i start with? python, C#, java.. something else?

just want something to give me an advantage when starting with C++ later on.

and are there any good tutorials or anything you  would recommend ?

 

 

Thank you all

[wtfxmitchell]

i would choose java 

[ForsakenLive]

For starters I recommend C

[Drown]

You could start with C#, it's a relatively easy language, but it's also possible to jump right into C++. It's definitely possible to start with C++ and be good with it, learning other languages that are "easier" isn't a prerequisite. Java is also a good choice, even though it's not used as much as C++ for games. 

 

If you want to make complete games yourself there are also other things to look at, like 3D modeling, animation, textures, audio, game engines and that sort of thing. Have a good knoweldge of mathematics and physics is also a great plus when you want to make your own complete game, a must if you want it to be as realisitc and immersive as possible. It's all down to what you want to do later down the road, but C++ is a good starting point IMO.

 

For guides and tutorials, just try Google/Youtube. There are a lot of guides. The toughest thing to understand IMO is the logic and reasonning, not the synthax of the language. 

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Java has an extremely friendly compiler, teaches you C syntax and there's a ton of good online courses available for it. It's definitely where I would start.

[Fredrikmikael]

i would choose java 

 

 

Java has an extremely friendly compiler, teaches you C syntax and there's a ton of good online courses available for it. It's definitely where I would start.

 

I have decided to try out Java.

 

What Tutorials should i check out? should i jump right in to beginner game programming, if so which ?

[NInety]

@Fredrikmikael

 

C# is an easy language. I'm 15 and I learned from here.

 

http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/Content/ViewContent.aspx?et=3371&m=3346&ct=18127

 

It was semi-easy for me. But I'm smarter than most 'kids' my age...

And if it asks you to sign up after watching like 3-4 videos, just delete your history and cookies and go back to where you were.

He goes really in depth about what the code means and what it's doing.

I think it should take about a month to be fully fluent in C# learning from this tutorial.

 

And after you are fluent in C#, check out these tutorials.

 

http://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/modules/beginner/scripting

 

These tutorials take it more to the game programming side of C# but are more advanced and need to be done AFTER you learn C#. Even the beginner section should be done AFTER you learn, trust me it will be a lot easier. Patience is key to learning programming.

[MikkoP]

Java is a cool language to start with. 

 

C and C++ are also good languages, but I don't think you should try with those at first. You get frustrated with all the low level operations you have to do, like memory management.

[BrightCandle]

If your passion is games programming that starting with languages that make that possible is your quickest route to doing what you want to do and learning something that is helping not only programming in that language but also graphics and game design as well.

 

Most games today I written in C++, that is what the entire industry basically uses. I learnt C right after learning Basic so I don't think its too difficult to pick up and use, it will take a while to master but its the most direct route to what you want. The other possibility is C#, that is where a lot of the C++ programmers will end up and its also got reasonable access to openGL and DirectX and can interface with the unmanaged code that is used in a lot of supporting APIs for game programming but with a garbage collected language. But garbage collection is basically the death of real time interfaces like games so I can't really see the industry adopting C# over C++.

 

Java is a horrible language to use. Its GC pauses cause numerous issues with games programming, its got pretty bad bindings  to the native libraries like openGL and DirectX, the "easier" API like Monkey are kind of bad and its mostly become a language for the server side and not for games front end development. I can't recommend Java for this, it really is a C/C++ world and that is what you should learn.

[LePawel]

I'm currently on 2nd year of Games Dev course in uni, and every lecturer tells us that c++ is the language of choice for gaming, full stop. The only problem I have now is that if I switch to C# in XNA or Java for some of the courseworks I miss the parts of c++ that the other 2 got rid of i.e pointers. IMO, it's better to learn the hard part first, so you have easier time learning stuff on top of that. At least if you have access to good IDEs like VS 2012 (provided your course will support it).

 

 

[piplupgao]

What Tutorials should i check out? should i jump right in to beginner game programming, if so which ?

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