This must be a silly or weird question but, how do you know for sure that you want work as a programmer in a game company? I was and still is interested of creating games ever since I was a kid. But then I didn´t know which direction I would take between programming and graphics. So I went through to a 3-years electric education in gymnasium with a computer direction on it between 2001-2004. And I had two programming courses in the language C which I thought it was so fun that I wanted to work as a game programmer in the future. But was some years ago and in the meantime I started to read a Foundation Year in the Linköpings Universitet in 2004. I did that because I needed to get those courses that required to read a 4 and a half year long Civil Engineer education like Maths, Physics and Chemistry. And now I read a Civil Engineer education with a computer direction and we have started with the programming course that will take up the language LISP first and after that ADA. But when we had programming labs earlier this week I found it very difficult to write a simple code like for instance to "write a code to calculate the value of a expotentiation in a iterative solution" and I got frustrated every time I got stuck. Is it because programming isn´t the right thing for me? Or is it because I haven´t programmed so much during the 1 and a half of years time in the university? Could it also be that LISP is very different from C?

I would say that you are unfamiliar with the language, and still not an expert at programming in general. I have been programming for 10 years now, and still run into problems that are difficult to figure out, but when I do I feel a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes the answers hit you in the weirdest of places while you're not even thinking about them. If they are giving you difficult problems, that's good. When I went through some classes I had nothing to challenge me since they were all pretty basic and I was already familiar with the langauge and programming in general. You will never know if game programming is for you unless you try it. Make some small clone games, like pong/tetris/mario and see how you feel about making simple games like that. If you had fun and are enjoying yourself move up to a slightly more complex game (basically, this is doing 2 things, giving you knowledge on how to complete a game, and building a small portfolio when you are ready to start job hunting.)

I know I want to work as a programmer because I love it, not at all times though. Programming could, or could not be the right thing for you. You can't say it is/isn't the right thing because you couldn't complete a task. Do you enjoy programming? Could you see yourself programming many hours each day and not hating it? Try to answer these questions. I think you should try sticking to the courses and after some time ask youself how much you enjoy programming. I think the main reason you couldn't write the program (iterative exponent) is because you haven't touched programming for a long time.

Quote:Original post by programwizard
Yes, LISP is very different from C; LISP is a procedural language, while C is a functional one (it might be the other way around, correct me if I'm wrong).

You're wrong, but I'm wondering if there actually is a way to be fully correct about this. I've been struggling with the terms functional, procedural, declarative and imperative for some time, and it's far from clear which is which.

Anyway, I believe it's not about language, but about style. You can write in functional style in C, as you can write in procedural style in Lisp, but it's more common the other way around.

C is procedural, C++ is OOP, and Lisp is functional.

Yes, it could be that Lisp is just so different from C that you're getting frustrated, especially if it would take you mere minutes to do the above problem in C, but quite a while in Lisp.

Theres no way we can tell you whether or not 'programming is for you.' But think about it, would you want to spend 4 years of college taking Computer Science(or whatever) and then spend your career programming? If yes, then its for you. Also, you mention that you might rather do the art side, well I'm sure that having some level of knowlege about programming would help any artist, even if just a little bit.

Remeber, you can always program for a hobby!

Quote:Original post by Ezbez
Yes, it could be that Lisp is just so different from C that you're getting frustrated, especially if it would take you mere minutes to do the above problem in C, but quite a while in Lisp.

Theres no way we can tell you whether or not 'programming is for you.' But think about it, would you want to spend 4 years of college taking Computer Science(or whatever) and then spend your career programming? If yes, then its for you. Also, you mention that you might rather do the art side, well I'm sure that having some level of knowlege about programming would help any artist, even if just a little bit.

Remeber, you can always program for a hobby!

So, even if I would take the direction on 3d-modelling/animation it will also be some programming there too?

Quote:Original post by john13th
This must be a silly or weird question but, how do you know for sure that you want work as a programmer in a game company? I was and still is interested of creating games ever since I was a kid. But then I didn´t know which direction I would take between programming and graphics. So I went through to a 3-years electric education in gymnasium with a computer direction on it between 2001-2004. And I had two programming courses in the language C which I thought it was so fun that I wanted to work as a game programmer in the future. But was some years ago and in the meantime I started to read a Foundation Year in the Linköpings Universitet in 2004. I did that because I needed to get those courses that required to read a 4 and a half year long Civil Engineer education like Maths, Physics and Chemistry. And now I read a Civil Engineer education with a computer direction and we have started with the programming course that will take up the language LISP first and after that ADA. But when we had programming labs earlier this week I found it very difficult to write a simple code like for instance to "write a code to calculate the value of a expotentiation in a iterative solution" and I got frustrated every time I got stuck. Is it because programming isn´t the right thing for me?

Probably not, if you've already completed two C courses.

Quote:
Or is it because I haven´t programmed so much during the 1 and a half of years time in the university?

Probably.

Quote:
Could it also be that LISP is very different from C?

Yes. If you've only seriously programmed in C, you'll find using any other language a stretch. You'd have the same problem if you'd started with Ada. On the other hand, once you've learnt Lisp and Ada, you should find it much easier to learn other languages.

Quote:Original post by Fallen God
C is procedural, C++ is OOP, and Lisp is functional.

Lisp is procedural, OOP and functional. The probable reason that every thinks 'Lisp is functional' is that Lisp was the first widely used language with functional features.