languages

[PunkProgJT]

well, im a newbie and all and is trying to learn a first language. I have no talent for it apparently when i can't even do loops but i want to do a language that is nice and fast, easy and is good for game programming. What could i choose? I have looked into ones like 'C' but it is just too advanced for me. I need some help from people who know what they are doing. And that isnt me at all. Thanks all who help!

[chaoswraith]

If you are looking for game programming, you are going to have to get into C or C++, Perl, or one of the other powerful languages out there. Unfortunately, that means that they can all be "advanced" but if you take the time to read up on some tutorials and try your hand out small programs, you should be able to pick up any of these languages given some time.

Someone else on the forum mentioned that HTML would be a good language to start with. It isn't very helpful as far as programming applications goes, but it will give you an introduction into proper syntax and semantics, which is a good place to start.

[MicroBurn]

I suggest leaveing BASIC or MS-BASIC first, then move on to something more advanced. get a BASIC program like QBasic, or something and look at some tutorials about programming in that language. Just a suggestion. Chaoswraith has a good idea about starting with html first.

[InterKnight]

html is a good start i concur, also ive read somewhere that there are certain flavors of basic which can be used for game programming and thatd certainly be alot easier than c or c++ for a first language. which might be a fair starting point for a search on the subject. not a game programmer myself but hope this helps.

[dspeidel]

Originally posted here by PunkProgJT
well, im a newbie and all and is trying to learn a first language. I have no talent for it apparently when i can't even do loops but i want to do a language that is nice and fast, easy and is good for game programming. What could i choose? I have looked into ones like 'C' but it is just too advanced for me. I need some help from people who know what they are doing. And that isnt me at all. Thanks all who help!

The advice given above is good. My question is why are you getting into programming? If you have a geniune love of computers and technology then by all means learn the languages to make them do cool things. However, if your just doing it to make the big bucks I'd advise you rethink the career path. I use to teach labs at Temple University (when I was an undergrad) and I had two types of students those who loved technology and those who were doing it for the "big bucks". The later catergory did rather poorly, the former catergory excelled at it.

If your doing it out of love for technolgy before you go furhter I'd suggest reading up on logic (or taking a logic course). Must of the what programs do are a logical sequence of events. If you master logic you can master programming -then it becomes just syntax.

Cheers,
-D

[indolent]

id say start with a basic, it is simple and will get you familiar with concepts that are needed in more powerful gameprograming languages, try dowloading gw-basic or better yet q-basic
good luck, all you need to do is read and experiment,just have fun..

[alittlebitnumb]

From the programming I have done, there is really no "easy" language. For instance, when learning even HTML, there is HTML with good structure and syntax but looks like garbage, or had no logic to it. The same goes for other "harder" languages such as C/C++/ASM. Even though it takes a considerable time to learn its syntax and structure, it is a whole hell of a lot easier to grasp than logical structure... for instance, it easy to fix a syntax error, but could take more time to fix a logical error in which has perfect syntax.

So before embarking on something like this, ask yourself: Am I good at solving puzzles? My C++ professor had logic puzzles and qizzlets to keep us on our toes and made us "look outside the box" I unfortunately had a horrid time at where in the hell to start... once I got a sarting point, then I could go wild; however, real programming does not work that way; and that is why I got a "B" for the class

Before you can even embark on a language, even an easy one, you need to test the waters and it makes no difference if its BASIC, HTML or even ASM. It all takes logic, especially in games. From the source code I have seen in games even in BASIC, it can get pretty hairy logically. So for something like this, it will take some time no matter what.

However, do not get me wrong! I have friends that NEVER took a language in their lives, got into programming and churned some pretty awesome code pretty quickly and had a natural tendancy to it.

Bottom Line: Do not be afraid to try it even when others say or it has a rep of being "hard." You never know... you might be the ones who have that natural talent. No matter what language you pick

Then work, work, work. It will not happen overnight.

Here are some links to help you pick which languages are right for you:

http://www.dotnet247.com/247reference/guide/63.aspx (.NET patform comparisons for languages)

http://dmoz.org/Computers/Programmin...on_and_Review/

http://www.bagley.org/~doug/shootout/ (Kinda interesting)

These might tell you what does what and might point you in the right direction. Otherwise, look on Google. It has tons of info.
Wish you luck

[specs]

There are 3 languages used widely to teach future programmers their first language (at least here in .za). They are: QBasic, Pascal and Java.

I would really suggest something like Java. It is free, rather easy and you only have to compile once for your application to work on an os. The former two are fast becoming out of date, if you like them, try their OOB kids Visual Basic or Delphi.

[ThaVolt]

I think it's easy to start with Visual Basic i got my programming skills from it..

[neel]

What kinds of games do you want to make? If you're going to make 3d games you almost have to use c(++) if you just want to make a mastermind like thing Visualbasic or qbasic would be enough. It's always usefull to start at the beginning (hello world like programs), instead of imediatly starting to make games.