A comparison of graphics libraries and their respective programming languages. A.K.A. "Which do I pick? With a twist."

I'm a long time professional programmer who never gave up on programming as a hobby. 3D programming has always appealed to me, but after some trial and error I always came back to (and got stuck on) the same question:

Which to choose?

• C# with XNA.
  
• C++ with DirectX.
  
• Java with OpenGL.
  

All three appeal to me:

• XNA, because it's managed, of high quality and very complete.
  
• DirectX, because it's de facto standard for large games.
  
• OpenGL, because it's open. It has a proven track record of high quality games built using it. + Eclipse hotswap functionality is sexy.
  

Keep in mind here that I will:

• Use the above library and language for hobby use.
  
• Will want to develop both 3D games and 3D tooling.
  
• Might seek a job in a 3D programming industry.
  

For the sake of the argument, assume I am equally well versed in C#, C++ and Java. And have no preference for any of the three mentioned libraries. In reality I have a slight preference for one of those three, but the quality of the code I produce in the languages is the same.

Replies with sources as links are preferred! OGRE and Irrlicht (and similar) are also contenders, but not preferred because it introduces additional depencies on other developers.



I've posted the same question on:
- gamedev.stackexchange, where it was quickly closed. http://gamedev.stack...mming-languages
- r/gamedev, who were generally uninterested. http://www.reddit.co...hics_libraries/

[color=#333333]If I were you, I'd take the time and learn OpenGL, particularly since you're a dedicated hobbyist at this stage. Like C and C++, it's a general-purpose tool that sets you up for opportunities in different industries, if it ever interests you to do 3D programming for eg. medical visualisation or defence contracting. They say that DirectX is a short leap from OpenGL. Also, I would say you can get into GPGPU technologies like OpenCL or Nvidia CUDA more easily if you take this route. And IMO, that's where the future is: General purpose, massively parallel processing without restricted access to the bulk of system memory.

[color=#333333]So that's DirectX covered under that umbrella, as well. I would favour it only slightly less than OpenGL, but that's very much a personal preference. It's still miles ahead of the remaining alternatives.

[color=#333333]For the above reasons and more, I wouldn't choose XNA. I find the framework restrictive and to me at least, the architecture desicions they took don't make much sense. Yes, I know it's great to be able to deploy for Windows and XBox360 at the same time. Yes I know C# 4.0 is (let's be fair) a great language in many ways. XNA may save you time. But I'd still avoid it unless I was specifically targetting the Xbox360 for a game that didn't require the degree of control that a lower level language offers.

[color=#333333]To be fair, if you are not already a C or C++ programmer (you don't specify), I would certainly go the Java and OpenGL route. Notch, of Minecraft fame, has made a huge name for himself with those two technologies as an indie and I don't think that is something to sneeze at. I used Java briefly last year and in comparison to C#, it may have less modern features, but the consistency and simplicity of the core libraries are just brilliant. Java collections are an absolute pleasure, more than any other language I've worked with. And they support just about any type of collection you can think of, natively. And they're FAST.

[color=#333333]You did leave out one popular option, which is Unity. This is ideal if you want a really, really fast start. The basic edition is free, and you can use DropBox for source control (since unless you pay for version control support otherwise, it can be problematic). It uses Mono C#, although not the newest version.

This thread is answered. I did not quite get the answer I had hoped for, but I realize that there aren't a lot of people coming from my situation (being a professional programmer before learning 3D programming). A comparison of graphics libraries and their respective programming languages can't be found in this thread. The guide that Seraph posted goes on lengths about choice of language and only touches the libraries briefly.

I will take your wisdom, 'flip a coin' and choose Java/OpenGL for now. The answers provided here set me on the path to eventually being able to answer this question myself.