Argh! Windows!
Don't use Linux OR Windows, the BeOS programmer newsgroup makes it sound like its VERY easy to program for and besides it looks nifty.
I don't think progamming for Windows is so difficult. If you already know some C or even C++ from DOS, it shouldn't be a problem.
Try to get a book or at least some samples and play around with them. If you have any special problem, you can ask.
If you used PASCAL or BASIC or whatever, you should think about learning C++.
I have not worked with Linux much, but I'm sure programming under a GUI like KDE is not much simpler than working with windows.
ciao...
...jens
Having said that, Xlib isn't the easiest thing to program in either, so...
If you want to make your life easier, get a GUI toolkit, such as Qt or EasyGTK+. There are versions for X-Windows and MS Windows (and probably BeOS too).
These aren't going to help you if you want to program games though. Best trick is to use a game library such as GGI/GII or Allegro. Allegro is your best bet, since it allows you to write Windows games without knowing anything about Windows programming at all (the code is usually no different from the DOS code). It's what I use
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=> Arfa <=
But there's a small trick that I have read about where you can turn windows with directX into basically DOS. I read it in an article called "DirectX-tasy" by Andre' LaMothe. I haven't actually been bothered from programming DirectX yet since school keeps me busy enough from that, but the article is a decent read and it might help in your quest.
Plus that way it'll be easier for you to port your game form DOS to windows.
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-Dom:)
Visit - http://www.eisa.net.au/~sdgrab/contents.html
LINUX : If you want to become a game-coder - and I think you want to, if you post on sites like this one - you shouldn't learn coding under Linux, because there's no market. Mostly Linux is used for webservers and some normal applications, but not for games. And you will have to sell your games, and if there is no market, you won't sell them ----> you won't earn money.
WINDOWS : It's easy to step in, forget the old DOS stuff you've learned. It's the os to code for, there's a hugh market and many tools that can help you. All games are developed for Windows and it'll be the most used OS for many years, maybe in a few years you'll use Win2014.
All in all, Windows is easy after you stepped in. You've got several API's to use, which make things pretty fast, and they're not that hard to use. You can learn OpenGL which you can use on several other systems, too, ... you won't have any memory problems, ... the next generation compiler will be something like C++ Builder, I guess, so creating GUI and some components will be just drag & drop.
CU
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Skullpture Entertainment
#40842461
Perhaps the first thing I had to come to terms with was dispensing with my low level graphics routines and adopting something like DirectX or Opengl.
Pros
- It saved time (in the long run).
- I no longer had to be overly concerned with hardware compatibility issues.
- There's some good info around on the subject.
NB: Use native Win32 and Directx (or Opengl). There's a standard layout for establishing your apps parent window, event handling, errors, enumerating modes...the list goes on. You'll see more or less the same code replicated in all code samples. Get this out of the way and you can get into the real stuff.
Perhaps the real question now is how do you make your code platform independant, such that it can run on either windows or Linux.
A comment on Linux - It's leaping up the chart in terms of acceptance - check out Redhat! (plug )
A good place to start - go to www.looneygames.com and check out the articles by Chris Hargrove (3DRealms) - Code on the cob. Chris has produced some excellent examples of platform independant code and you can get the standard windows stuff as well.
My final comment - make the change. If you have been DOS coding then you'll have a good base to start from.
/Cygnus
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L8R
Scruffy
[This message has been edited by felisandria (edited August 17, 1999).]
L8R
*sigh* Windows it is...I'm grounded this week, so maybe learn Win32 to pass the time. Thanks everyone.
-=mike=-
Has anyone figured out the secret to making it make sense? Or does it always have this mysterious fog surrounding it, that not even Bill Gates himself can control anymore? ;-)
Please, someone, let me know, okay?
Thank you.
-=Xelius=-