Hey guys, I have decided that I am going to look more into C programming, now my next question is: What scripting languages can be used with C? What would be the best (in your opinion) for making games? Should I master C before I start scripting, or learn the two together?
odds are you'll want to learn C++, not C. even if you just use C syntax, a C++ compiler is preferred for the stronger compile time type checking. which means you can catch bugs as syntax errors at compile time, instead of discovering them as crashes and lockups at runtime. Also, there's more 3rd party support for C++ in the way of tools, libraries, etc.
as for what scripting languages can be used with C (or c++), as i recall, the answer is any language than can make a STD_CALL function call, and shares the same linker object file format as the c/c++ compiler used. but you might want to look it up. <g>.
as for which scripting language to use, you want the lightest weight, simplest implementation that will get the job done. anything more is overkill, and therefore unnecessary work. this might include rolling your own simple system, in lieu of implementing some large more complex third party system with its associated learning curve.
as for WHEN to use a scripting language:
1. your code changes a LOT during development. AND that code is a good candidate for scripting (IE not render code type stuff), AND it will take less time to implement _and_ learn a scripting language _and_ write scripts than it will to sit though a bunch of long rebuilds.
=OR=
2. you want non-coders to be able to modify the game code, without requiring source code, a compiler, or skills in the language the game is written in.
its not until you get into building some pretty big games or working on pretty big teams that scripting becomes a superior option.
but scripting also has its other uses apart from the "high level script driven c++ engine" type stuff - implementing data driven quests for instance.
