What Language Do I Use?
by John Hattan

Contents   Introduction   C   C++   C or C++   Assembly   Pascal   Visual Basic   Java   Authoring Tools   Conclusion   Printable version   Discuss this article

Should I learn C++, or should I start with C?

I thought this bore mentioning, as it's the second most commonly asked question next to "which programming language should I use?"

Unfortunately, the answer isn't black and white. You could save a lot of time by just teaching yourself C and writing apps, but there are two disadvantages to this approach.

• You're missing out on what will likely be a much more effective way of modeling the data in your game.
• By not learning OO programming off the bat, you could be enforcing bad programming habits that you'll have to un-learn later. Trust me on this one.

Many of the biggest commercial games, including most first-person shooters, get by without C++. The authors of these programs, however, always insist that they're using object-oriented programming techniques even though they're using plain old C. If you want to just learn C, at least teach yourself OO programming techniques. OO is the perfect methodology for simulations (read: games), and you'll really be doing it "the hard way" if you push off learning OO.

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