What should I used for file I/O in my games? C or C++?
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Yeah, I tried to be as direct as I could in my topic title. Here's my situation:
I've been working on a Tetris clone (Block-O-Rama) for the past two months or so. I've been using mostly C++ for this except for some string stuff with constantly updating values such as the score and level. The game itself is done, looks very old school like 8-bit NES and I'm quite happy with it. Graphics aren't my thing so I wasn't too worried about that.
It has now come time where I add the finishing touches, namely the in-game credits and high score board. Out of the two, I'm chosing the high score board first. I know how I'm going to go about creating such a thing, it doesn't seem like such an arduous task. The only problem is that when learning C++ I never really got too in depth in file I/O. I'm not a master with it and if I were to do anything, I would have to go read a tutorial or chapter to get what I need done. That doesn't bother me.
What does bother me, though, is whether I should be using C or C++ functions for this. Which would be better for the task at hand? Which would be faster, easier, cleaner?
Some would disagree, but I like the C io functions better. It's very simple, its just something like 4 functions and a FILE handle.
C++ freaks would say that these C functions lack security, but this is rarely a serious matter.
C++ freaks would say that these C functions lack security, but this is rarely a serious matter.
I would expect that speed would be totally irrelevant for this feature; no matter how horribly you misuse any file I/O functions (C or C++), writing the high score file will still seem like a more or less instant action.
As for easier, if you're already familiar with printf, then C file I/O will probably seem easy. If you're already familiar with std::cout, then C++ file I/O will probably seem easy. If you're familiar with both, it'll be a toss up between which one you like more. Me, I'm a C++ person. I like streams the way C++ has them set up, with overloaded << and >> operators and such. I'm definitely comfortable with printf()-like functions, but they simply don't look as intuitive to me.
Cleaner? I'd say C++ for this one. Objects clean up after themselves. That alone is nicer than having to remember to call fclose(). It's minor, but there are a lot of little things like that.
If nothing else, though, I'd suggest doing C++ just so that you'll be familiar with it in case you ever are required to use it in the future for some reason.
As for easier, if you're already familiar with printf, then C file I/O will probably seem easy. If you're already familiar with std::cout, then C++ file I/O will probably seem easy. If you're familiar with both, it'll be a toss up between which one you like more. Me, I'm a C++ person. I like streams the way C++ has them set up, with overloaded << and >> operators and such. I'm definitely comfortable with printf()-like functions, but they simply don't look as intuitive to me.
Cleaner? I'd say C++ for this one. Objects clean up after themselves. That alone is nicer than having to remember to call fclose(). It's minor, but there are a lot of little things like that.
If nothing else, though, I'd suggest doing C++ just so that you'll be familiar with it in case you ever are required to use it in the future for some reason.
It probably doesn't matter, since you're likely to wrap the file IO functions away in their own class anyways.
Personally, I tend to use the C++ stuff. Just doing an fstream.good() is [to me] nicer than making sure C streams are still good.
Personally, I tend to use the C++ stuff. Just doing an fstream.good() is [to me] nicer than making sure C streams are still good.
I like the C++ functions quite a bit, although the C ones are alright.
In C++ it's as simple as
Bye!
[Edited by - thannett on May 25, 2005 6:42:07 PM]
In C++ it's as simple as
//INPUTchar letter;ifstream fin;fin.open("/*filename*/");fin >> letter;fin.close();//OUTPUTofstream fout;fout.open("/*filename*/");fout << "La La, Apples and Oranges!";fout.close(); //or just flush if you only want to saveBye!
[Edited by - thannett on May 25, 2005 6:42:07 PM]
I prefer the same as above mentioned. It is easy to open a file, and you can use all fprint and sprint functions to format the text.
Ex:
Ex:
FILE file;file = fopen( "filename", "w" );fprintf( file, "Hello World" );fclose( file );This topic is closed to new replies.
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