Which programming language should I learn @.@

[mrmiguu]

@Robin:

> No one who has posted in this thread knows what they're talking about except Rob and I.

Ouch, Robin, ouch…

I'd vouch for VB6 over VB.NET any day. I feel VB.NET tried to do more but just overcomplicated things. Ask any Visual Basic lover; they'll tell you VB6 > VB.NET in most terms (learning curve, esp.).

[Rob Janes]

VB6 is still widely used in a lot of real-world applications, and still used in a lot of very large 'business' focused development studios, mainly because it requires in a lot less in comparison to it's latest counterparts (and let's face it, if you have any sort of technical training, VB.NET is Microsofts red-headed step child now, receiving updates only after C# has had it for quite some time and even then implemented very poorly).

If you're young, still in school, even high-school and just starting out. VB6 is a fantastic place to start.  Once you get a good understanding of 'coding', then venture forth into the world of C/C++ (in my opinion - but it's just that, my opinion) followed by more OOP like C#.  A good understanding of 'coding' is not the ability to modify minor things in EO, or make a glorified 'Hello World!' application.  We're talking a good understanding of IO methods, data structures, proper coding techniques and naming conventions,  linear logical troubleshooting.  Once you have these things ingrained in your skull, it just comes natural to pick up a different language and have a moderate understanding of what you're looking at.

Do like everyone else did when we were young and started, duck around with other people's source code and examples on PSC.  Maybe grab a VB6 book from Amazon and plug away at it. ;)

Side Note: I say C/C++ previous once you have a good understanding of VB6.  C++ and VB syntax are no where near the same but you'll understand when to use certain functions to get your job done.  I recommend C++ mainly because if you *(Yumi) are looking to make games, C++ is still the most widely used language for current video games. (Source - Being an ex-professional developer and having a missus who works in a professional game development studio)

[Admiral Refuge]

@Alexander:

> Ouch, Robin, ouch…

Ouch indeed.

[Jacquelinett]

I love how like 4 people voted that I shut up and only 3 on C++ and such xD

[Draken]

well its not up there but its quite powerful for game dev since its designed for game dev.

look into blitz 3d. tons of nice tutorials and examples.

just because it has 3d in its name doesn't mean you have to make it 3d also has 2d system.

Its quite simple to understand, I understand it so you should be able to LOL.

Official site
http://www.blitzbasic.com/

Good Tutorial for starters
http://jnoodle.com/Blitz3D/

[Jacquelinett]

You guy do know that you can vote for 3 things at the same time right? Be productive lol. Voting for me to go and get a life doesn't help much xD I just put it there for fun

[saadhamza]

This whole "needing to instal java" thing… how is that a problem? I thought everybody generally had java o.o

[Jacquelinett]

No, when you buy a new computer, you have to install java to play Java game. They never installed Java for you

[mrmiguu]

Java's whole thing is that it can be run everywhere. Honestly, if you find that "installing Java" is keeping you from learning Java, think again.

Instead of telling people to be productive and vote for more than one option, trying actually–in the mean time--searching up these languages. Try to find more information **on your own** so you can feel comfortable choosing as opposed to relying completely on our recommendations.

[Robin]

@Rob:

> VB6 is still widely used in a lot of real-world applications, and still used in a lot of very large 'business' focused development studios, mainly because it requires in a lot less in comparison to it's latest counterparts (and let's face it, if you have any sort of technical training, VB.NET is Microsofts red-headed step child now, receiving updates only after C# has had it for quite some time and even then implemented very poorly).
>
> If you're young, still in school, even high-school and just starting out. VB6 is a fantastic place to start.  Once you get a good understanding of 'coding', then venture forth into the world of C/C++ (in my opinion - but it's just that, my opinion) followed by more OOP like C#.  A good understanding of 'coding' is not the ability to modify minor things in EO, or make a glorified 'Hello World!' application.  We're talking a good understanding of IO methods, data structures, proper coding techniques and naming conventions,  linear logical troubleshooting.  Once you have these things ingrained in your skull, it just comes natural to pick up a different language and have a moderate understanding of what you're looking at.
>
> Do like everyone else did when we were young and started, duck around with other people's source code and examples on PSC.  Maybe grab a VB6 book from Amazon and plug away at it. ;)
>
> Side Note: I say C/C++ previous once you have a good understanding of VB6.  C++ and VB syntax are no where near the same but you'll understand when to use certain functions to get your job done.  I recommend C++ mainly because if you *(Yumi) are looking to make games, C++ is still the most widely used language for current video games. (Source - Being an ex-professional developer and having a missus who works in a professional game development studio)

This man speaks the truth.

[Jeff]

You couldn't learn python?  Go back and learn that.  Master the basics first.

[Admiral Refuge]

@Frostyy:

> You couldn't learn python?  Go back and learn that.  Master the basics first.

Python isn't worth learning.

[Jeff]

@Admiral:

> Python isn't worth learning.

I disagree. First, it can be useful if you aren't good enough to be a programmer, so you can get on a team as a scripter. Second, it'll teach you some about programming and syntax. Third, python can be used for perfectly functioning small games.
However, if Tiana actually understands VB6/VB.net, then there's no point in learning python because it won't give you any more knowledge, and you can use VB.net for games instead. Then if she needs to learn python later, it won't be a problem because she understands some programming.

[Robin]

@Frostyy:

> I disagree. First, it can be useful if you aren't good enough to be a programmer, so you can get on a team as a scripter. Second, it'll teach you some about programming and syntax. Third, python can be used for perfectly functioning small games.

You've never done any sort of real programming work, have you?

[saadhamza]

I'm still with learning C, but if you want to learn VB6 to get used to programming and stuff, that's not a bad idea either.

[Robin]

@Zonova:

> I'm still with learning C, but if you want to learn VB6 to get used to programming and stuff, that's not a bad idea either.

Yes, but you're also a fruity sand-nigger who thought it was a good idea to climb a free-standing brick wall and nearly paralyse yourself with your shitty 'parkour'. You're not known for giving good advice.

[azure]

Just wanted to point out that Robin is correct…. It doesn't matter which language learn as long as you actually learn the skills and theory that apply to programming as a whole. "Any monkey can learn syntax."

[mrmiguu]

The thing I find most appealing about a language like VB6 is that you can play around with basic interface features before making your own. In C, without a nifty IDE, you're basically on your own, starting from square one everytime; no placeholders that beginners (and most casual programmers) can use before placing their entirely DX/OpenGL/WPF rendered interface.

@Azure:

> Just wanted to point out that Robin is correct….

_So Zonova really is a sand-nigger…_

@Azure:

> "Any monkey can learn syntax."

So since I can't learn syntax, what does that make me? D:

[Robin]

@Alexander:

> So since I can't learn syntax, what does that make me? D:

I think I've said it plenty of times.

[DrNova]

I'd say learn Q-Basic.  Monkeys throwing exploding banana's rocks.

[guzmanm]

@DrNova:

> I'd say learn Q-Basic.  Monkeys throwing exploding banana's rocks.


[Boko]

> Flash! Flash sound fun. But, flash is for flash game, not decent game

If you're a complete beginner, something like Flash (AS2/AS3) isn't a bad idea.. any simply language is a good start because it teaches you the basic syntax of programming (if statements, basic functions, cases, arrays, math functions etc) which all programming languages share in common, but may do them a little differently.

Flash/VB6/.NET are the easy languages (though mainly flash) because in very basic areas you don't have to script everything (eg. manipulation of the timeline to transition an animation is an easy alternative way to controlling the movieclip through actionscript with a set interval) - (and in VB you can drag window objects around as an alternative to creating them through code.. a more efficient design process for beginners).

And there's nothing saying you can't make a decent game with Flash, I recreated Final Fantasy 6 in Flash (using all the original graphics/sounds and perfecting the algorithms) and made it multiplayer. I've also been working on a version of FF7 but it's requiring a lot of custom sprite work obviously.

> HTML + PHP + Javascript + such? Eh, im not really sure about it

Web-based games are not a bad starting point either, you could even integrate flash into it if you're feeling brave. This is the best area to give you a start with server-side scripting (with the use of sql or through socket connection for more real-time multiplayer gameplay with the inclusion of flash/vb).

Learning web-based languages isn't just for gaming either, it'll be necessary for the distribution of your finished product in future (with a VB6 game made with something like Eclipse, you'd use it for the installer/updater.. it's very simple code to learn and it will make the runtime installation a more automatic process so you don't have to worry about that)

Java is another nice starting language and you could use an IDE like Eclipse to make things a bit more easier to manage. Though I'd recommend starting out by looking at simple projects which people have already worked on because it's a bit more advanced in regard to structure, it's fairly more similar to something like C++ so once you know the basics of either of those, you'll know a bit about the other too.

I'd recommend working up to C++ but starting with something easier first.
Make a few simple projects with the following in order:
Flash > VB6/.NET (either of which you prefer) > Java > C++
It'll give you an understanding of the differences between the various languages, and you'll also gain a perfect understanding of how each of them can be quite similar in terms of things like syntax.
It's impossible to tell you which you should use in order to produce the perfect game of your dreams, because nobody can be sure of what sort of language you would be confortable with.. so it's best to just try some basic projects with each of them then decide for yourself.

With things like C++, don't use something like XNA or other game engine libraries straight away, it's just going to confuse you. Learn the basics up to classes and library inclusions before importing libraries like those, they do make the language easy to use.. but that's not necesserily a good thing because you don't really learn much about C++ - you're just learning how to use the library.

I'd also recommend learning web development as a side-dish, nothing too fancy with HTML/JS/CSS, just get your feet wet with PHP/MySQL and socket connections.

[saadhamza]

@Robin:

> Yes, but you're also a fruity sand-nigger who thought it was a good idea to climb a free-standing brick wall and nearly paralyse yourself with your shitty 'parkour'. You're not known for giving good advice.

I dun like you any more T~T

[azure]

>! @Alexander:
>! > The thing I find most appealing about a language like VB6 is that you can play around with basic interface features before making your own. In C, without a nifty IDE, you're basically on your own, starting from square one everytime; no placeholders that beginners (and most casual programmers) can use before placing their entirely DX/OpenGL/WPF rendered interface.
> _So Zonova really is a sand-nigger…_
> So since I can't learn syntax, what does that make me? D: I lol'd I have trouble learning syntax as well so you are not alone.

[Robin]

@Azure:

> I lol'd I have trouble learning syntax as well so you are not alone.

You kind of have an excuse in that you're legally blind. Migo doesn't have that excuse. xD