Can I use C++ on things other than games?

[DARK0717]

Can I use C++ to make an application lets say an input override software just like x360ce or anything that isn't a game like AI? and if so, how flexible will it be? Are there any other very easy to learn languages to do the first thing that I said?

[spartaman64]

its a programming language you can use it for whatever you want

[Froody129]

Input override software? 

[DARK0717]

4 minutes ago, Froody129 said:

Input override software? 

take input from user, convert it to another input like a vive controller trackpad press

[Guest]

Databases & servers are sometimes written in C & C++. Video recording applications, video editors like premiere too. 

 

Edit:

Windows 10 is written in C/C++. Linux, tons of applications where power matters or where people just decided to useC++. 

[reniat]

The vast majority of C++ code is not games. It's a huge industry language in everything from high frequency trading, to hardware driver development, to browser engines, to desktop applications (and yes also games).

[riklaunim]

 

14 hours ago, DARK0717 said:

Can I use C++ to make an application lets say an input override software just like x360ce or anything that isn't a game like AI? and if so, how flexible will it be? Are there any other very easy to learn languages to do the first thing that I said?

All depends what you want to do. "Games" is a very broad and complex topic. If you are very new to programming don't assume you will start making games just like that with "a language" as those are quite complex projects and involve multiple layers and technologies. Plus you need a game engine and more.

 

There are also scripting languages like Python that are easier to use in many areas of software development. You can even script some game engines with it.

[DARK0717]

57 minutes ago, riklaunim said:

 

All depends what you want to do. "Games" is a very broad and complex topic. If you are very new to programming don't assume you will start making games just like that with "a language" as those are quite complex projects and involve multiple layers and technologies. Plus you need a game engine and more.

 

There are also scripting languages like Python that are easier to use in many areas of software development. You can even script some game engines with it.

what Im trying to say is, can you use C++ to program anything ranging from games, to software, to even deep learning AI? Im trying to ask if is C++'s effectiveness degrades drastically if I use it to program other than games

[reniat]

51 minutes ago, DARK0717 said:

what Im trying to say is, can you use C++ to program anything ranging from games, to software, to even deep learning AI? Im trying to ask if is C++'s effectiveness degrades drastically if I use it to program other than games

C++ is a general purpose language. You can write pretty much anything with it. I wouldn't do web front end work with it, because there are languages built specifically for that, and browsers are designed for certain languages (e.g. javascript), but it's not like the language gets "worse" when it's being used for a desktop application or a rest API vs a game.

[DARK0717]

1 minute ago, reniat said:

C++ is a general purpose language. You can write pretty much anything with it. I wouldn't do web front end work with it, because there are languages built specifically for that, and browsers are designed for certain languages (e.g. javascript), but it's not like the language gets "worse" when it's being used for a desktop application or a rest API vs a game.

Ohhhhh, thanks a lot!

[reniat]

1 minute ago, DARK0717 said:

Ohhhhh, thanks a lot!

you seem to be fairly new to programming. Instead of trying to see "is this language good or bad", why not tell us what kind of stuff you want to make and we'll give you a recommended language. Or if you're not sure what you want to make yet, pick any myriad of general purpose languages (C++, java, C, python, ruby, C#, etc.) and just start learning. The language you choose is not going to be your limiting factor as a developer in the long run by any stretch of the imagination.

[DARK0717]

1 minute ago, reniat said:

you seem to be fairly new to programming. Instead of trying to see "is this language good or bad", why not tell us what kind of stuff you want to make and we'll give you a recommended language. Or if you're not sure what you want to make yet, pick any myriad of general purpose languages (C++, java, C, python, ruby, C#, etc.) and just start learning. The language you choose is not going to be your limiting factor as a developer in the long run by any stretch of the imagination.

Im planning to create a software that maps any user input to VR stuff. Specifically the mouse movement to VR movement or a trackpad press

[reniat]

Just now, DARK0717 said:

Im planning to create a software that maps any user input to VR stuff. Specifically the mouse movement to VR movement or a trackpad press

You can pretty much use anything as long as there is API support for what you want to do with the VR stuff.

[DARK0717]

1 minute ago, reniat said:

You can pretty much use anything as long as there is API support for what you want to do with the VR stuff.

what is an API, how do I work with it, how do I work with an sdk as well? like osvr sdk or steamvr sdk

im planning to do it in python

[reniat]

1 minute ago, DARK0717 said:

API

application programming interface. It's basically how you talk with other systems.

[DARK0717]

1 minute ago, reniat said:

application programming interface. It's basically how you talk with other systems.

are you an expert programmer?? If so, can you guide me through my journey, right now im watching a 4hr vid about python for beginners, seems easy enough to learn. Tried C++ in udemy and I got pretty intimidated so I didn't finish the lesson

[reniat]

34 minutes ago, DARK0717 said:

If so, can you guide me through my journey

I would say just start with the basics. Get the fundamentals down. Start with codacadamy, or some very guided tutorials, and move on from there. This forums can be a pretty good resource for "i've done x, i want to do y eventually, what do I do next?"

[DARK0717]

2 minutes ago, reniat said:

I would say just start with the basics. Get the fundamentals down. Start with codacadamy, or some very guided tutorials, and move on from there. This forums can be a pretty good resource for "i've done x, i want to do y eventually, what do I do next?"

aight, Ill do that, but how long will it take to even get me to what I want to do, which is what I said earlier

[Beskamir]

Ummm yea... it's only commonly used for games since it's efficient and fast but can be used for whatever you want. After all it wouldn't be Turing complete otherwise.

[reniat]

11 hours ago, DARK0717 said:

aight, Ill do that, but how long will it take to even get me to what I want to do, which is what I said earlier

could take weeks, could take years. Depends on you. If you are literally at square 0 and have never done any programming before, I'd say don't expect to be working with obscure APIs and making complicated software soon, but that shouldn't stop you. This would be an impressive project for a resume.

[BloodViolet]

C/C++ are fairly low level languages. Although in theory you could program anything in C++, it doesn't always make sense.

Whenever performance is important or you need to perform low level tasks (Memory or hardware related stuff) it makes sense to work with C/C++.

If you work with huge datasets or scraping, parsing etc. C/C++ requires a lot more work to make it work than let's say Python.

 

For your project of mapping inputs, you could very well code this in C++. If there isn't an API or wrapper available for the stuff you want to write, you'll almost certainly want to write this in C++ to minimize latency.

[riklaunim]

On 25.08.2018 at 3:37 AM, DARK0717 said:

what Im trying to say is, can you use C++ to program anything ranging from games, to software, to even deep learning AI? Im trying to ask if is C++'s effectiveness degrades drastically if I use it to program other than games

You take a game engine and script it. No C++ needed whatsoever, although some are scriptable or native in C/C++ or C# too. You will also need assets, some physics (math) and good game design - C++ or any other language on it own won't allow you to make a decent game. Good game engine removes a lot of work from developers but still it's a complex app requiring good knowledge of the software stack and using various technologies. It takes a lot of time - and if udemy C++ course got you intimidated - that's just basics. Games take years of development by developers with multiple years of experience. You can do an indi game much quicker but the end result may be much less rewarding than expected.

 

A lot of things can be scripted in higher level languages like Python, which I use. There is a Python library for OpenVR https://github.com/cmbruns/pyopenvr but if you are thinking about a complex project - you may be forced to use something of lower level, like .NET platform with DX12 or C/C++/.NET/alike with Vulkan and both aided with some of those VR libraries/SDKs. Seriously, you picked a complex topic.

[DARK0717]

Holy cow, these are all the tips I needed, THANKS GUYS!!!!!!