14 replies to this topic

[Arale]

Hello all
Let me start upfront by saying that I'm much more into the art side of development, I'm not knowledgable in any way about programming, never done it before except for one Hello World script in C++. To do that, however, I used Code::Blocks along with allegro installed. But I've heard a lot of stuff about Code::Blocks, saying that it crashes too often, and such. Would that be a problem if I were to pursue programming? Would there be an advantage to choosing a different IDE? I understand the layout would be different, but other than that, what would change?

[JTippetts]

Define "too often". I've used C::B for a long time, five or six years, maybe longer. Never had a crash. Now, I'm sure it does crash, but most modern software is relatively unstable. Just save often. That has been a good guideline to follow for decades.

Edited by JTippetts, 25 October 2012 - 06:36 PM.

[BaneTrapper]

Hello all
Let me start upfront by saying that I'm much more into the art side of development, I'm not knowledgable in any way about programming, never done it before except for one Hello World script in C++. To do that, however, I used Code::Blocks along with allegro installed. But I've heard a lot of stuff about Code::Blocks, saying that it crashes too often, and such. Would that be a problem if I were to pursue programming? Would there be an advantage to choosing a different IDE? I understand the layout would be different, but other than that, what would change?

Visual studio Express or CodeBlocks, used both.
Visual studio, Easy to use, easy to start with, gave me headache about linking. All together it gave me allot of problems.
Codeblocks. Makes problems like not displaying include path for you, not displaying a class you just made and stuff like that therefor forces you to remember,
annoying and just bad but just what i want, to know/.

If you are freshman visual studio express is awesome cause its more "NOOB" friendly.
Never had clodeblocks crash on me... not a single time. Also it has auto save... just turn it on and set it to like 5 min and your fine. "Setting->Enviroment[]->Autosave and tick those on.
I believe you meant that your .exe file crashes not the codeblocks it self.

Ive started about 4years ago with youtube tutorials. Then it seemed fine, but now with my knowledge i can say that 60% of tutorials i watched people talked bullshit and didn't teach properly. Even now i cant find a proper c++ tutorials cause id take you days about a subject and each video is minutes long but each one provides a bit of info just strap it all together in time, good luck!

Edited by BaneTrapper, 25 October 2012 - 06:47 PM.

[jbadams]

I also haven't experienced any significant problems with Code::Blocks -- your mileage may vary, but in my experience it's a reasonably stable piece of software and I don't think you're likely to encounter serious issues as long as you use it sensibly.

In other IDEs you will encounter different layout and different labelling of options. You might also find some different functionality on offer.


I'm a big fan of Visual Studio -- and you can get the Express Edition for free -- but Code::Blocks should be just fine for you to learn with if you've been happy with your initial experiences. If you're after another alternative you could also take a look at QtCreator, which I've only recently tried for the first time but seems very nice and is very popular.


Hope that's helpful!

[abcdef44]

You might try also Eclipse or QTcreator for cross platform use.

[doeme]

Every (major) IDE has its pros and cons. Said that either Visual Studio, Code::Blocks and even Eclipse (with CDT) are able to handle larger projects. I have used Eclipse quite a bit under linux and i quite like it. However under windows I prefer Visual Studio mainly because of the debugger, because IMO having a good and easy to use debugger can save you a lot of nerves.

If you just start out with coding choose the IDE that feels the easiest to use for you. VS is quite beginner-friendly because it works out of the box, while eclipse needs some tweaking to get it running for C++-Development.

[NightCreature83]

if you have access to MSDN AA or a friend who works for MS you can get the full versions of Visual Studio for a decent price as well. The plus point of getting the full version of it is that you can install plugins that help during development, like resharper and Vissual Assist X. One of the things major IDEs always miss for C++ is refactor tools.

I personnally don't like eclipse for compiled language development, but this has historic issues and might actually be fixed now. Another decent IDE is Netbeans which is free and is as easy to use as Visual Studio

[Lauris Kaplinski]

Hello all
Let me start upfront by saying that I'm much more into the art side of development, I'm not knowledgable in any way about programming, never done it before except for one Hello World script in C++. To do that, however, I used Code::Blocks along with allegro installed. But I've heard a lot of stuff about Code::Blocks, saying that it crashes too often, and such. Would that be a problem if I were to pursue programming? Would there be an advantage to choosing a different IDE? I understand the layout would be different, but other than that, what would change?

Do you plan to pursue programming as independent discipline or are you more interested in developing games and using programming only as much as is needed?
In the latter case you probably should choose game engine/editor first and then an IDE that is either integrated into it or plays nicely with it. For example Unity has integrated MonoDevelop - you can replace it but unless you know very well what you are doing it is usually best use the default option.

[incertia]

I've never had Code::Blocks crash on me during the year I used it as a portable app at school, but I would prefer Visual Studio. First of all, VS has a great debugger (yes I know everybody says this). It will save you a LOT of time and hair when you want to pull it out. On the other hand, VS uses it's own compiler and linker and you will have problems when you want to use a library that isn't built for VS.

[Arale]

Hello all
Let me start upfront by saying that I'm much more into the art side of development, I'm not knowledgable in any way about programming, never done it before except for one Hello World script in C++. To do that, however, I used Code::Blocks along with allegro installed. But I've heard a lot of stuff about Code::Blocks, saying that it crashes too often, and such. Would that be a problem if I were to pursue programming? Would there be an advantage to choosing a different IDE? I understand the layout would be different, but other than that, what would change?

Do you plan to pursue programming as independent discipline or are you more interested in developing games and using programming only as much as is needed?
In the latter case you probably should choose game engine/editor first and then an IDE that is either integrated into it or plays nicely with it. For example Unity has integrated MonoDevelop - you can replace it but unless you know very well what you are doing it is usually best use the default option.

Actually the latter is exactly my intention, however I find that knowing how to program to a decent degree would be extensively helpful. You brought up monodevelop, honestly I'm a little embarassed to have overlooked that option, lol. I figured going straight to the use of an IDE would be best. That's a good suggestion though, thank you.

[nife87]

I have used Code::Blocks nightlies as my main IDE since one of its first releases in '05 or '06.
Since I use nightlies and not the stable builds (there are not many of them and they are quickly horribly outdated), there have been issues from time to time with certain builds, such as frequent crashes or features not working properly, but the developers have always responded quickly to any feedback on their forums. If one particular build annoys you, you can always use a former until the issues are fixed (usually does not take more than 1 or 2 newer builds iff you report the issue).
For instance, in the current Windows build (8438), I have issues with CB's "image" freezing as a screen overlay when (sometimes) minimizing, forcing me to restart CB (but everything is saved, so not a big deal), though the Debian build (Jens') is working perfectly.
Like JTippets said, just save often enough, make use of autosave, or do as I and use both (since I will never trust autosaving features ).

Edited by nife87, 26 October 2012 - 09:38 PM.

[Goran Milovanovic]

I use vim, with a few selected plugins.

If you're looking to become a programmer, I would recommend starting with a decent text editor, and then moving to an IDE.

Some will probably disagree with me, but I think you would learn more that way.

[abcdef44]

A long time ago I've tried Code::Blocks but couldn't get it to debug. At least not with a gui, maybe some cryptic command line would have helped. But no problems on Eclipse/Qtcreator/VC2010express.

[Bacterius]

I use Code::Blocks mainly and I've never had it crash once on me. To debug with it, you need to make sure all the debug symbols are enabled and optimizations disabled, and make sure the variable window is actually visible (plus the CPU register window, if you are doing inline assembly) so you can see what's going on. It's not Visual Studio with beautiful mouseover treeview-like displays, but it does work.

[EddieV223]

Visual Studio express 2012 or QT Creator are your best options.