Its been a while..Heh

[mattykins]

Hey everyone! Yeah its been a few weeks since i've posted but i've still been learning hard as ever I've branched out and learned some Java, C++, and LUA scripting. I need to pick a language and kind of narrow it down to one that i can really learn and master. Once i know the ins and outs of one language i figure it will be easier to learn the rest of the languages. These are the ones i've narrowed it down to:

C++
C
Java

Which do you guys think would be the best to learn? I'm leaning towards C++ Mainly because i just want to do game developement on it. Thanks in advanced!

[hallsofvallhalla]

I am learning Java as we speak. Bought about 3 books and a few video tutorials.

[Chris]

Saying you want to learn a language for game development is like saying you want to learn boxing to participate in MMA. There is much more you have to aim for.

My advice would be to learn Java.

[mattykins]

The only thing that is stopping me from digging deeper in to Java is that most people and games(save for a few like Minecraft) don't use Java.

[Chris]

You can do as much with Java as everything else.

[Jackolantern]

The largest use of Java in game development today is in Android mobile game development. I would estimate that probably over 90% of all Java game development is occurring for Android and the Dalvik runtime.

EDIT: And I feel compelled to mention that Lua always really got under my skin. Maybe it is easier to pick up for people with Perl experience or something, but I completely hated the syntax, as it almost seemed like it wanted to be weird for weird's sake lol.

[hallsofvallhalla]

There are quite a few games that use Java and a ton that use applets to make games in browsers. People fail to realize jmonkey is currently the best way to make 3d run in the browser.

http://jmonkeyengine.com/

Regardless of what other people do it does not mean you can't do it. Just because many commercial games use C++ doesn't make C++ good for you.

I have gotten some applets working so far and am working on a MUD in Java just to get me started. i am liking it so far and i see some great potential. Especially with Servlets. That is where some power in Java comes to play.

[mattykins]

I guess the main thing(s) keeping me from pursuing Java is the fact that I have no desire to develop for the browser or mobile platforms. Also that C# and Java are fairly similar and I would be relearning some things i learned previously in C#. C++ and C are more low level languages so I think they may be best for learning purposes.

[hallsofvallhalla]

C# then and XNA

[Jackolantern]

Actually, these days, Java and C# don't share as much in common as they did when C# was a fledgling language. C# is much closer to the source of C++, while Java remains like a cross between C++ and maybe BASIC, and wholly its own beast. C# is quite different, having operator overloading, structures, lambda expressions, unsigned variables, LINQ, etc. And then of course, the largest part of learning either Java or C#, the base class libraries are totally different.