is C not ideal for making a roguelike?
sogeking99
on C. some people have told me C is not ideal for making roguelikes,
is this true? Because one of the reasons I started this is so I could
one day make an RL for fun.
Mario Lassnig
Troll? If not:
Choice of programming language is irrelevant. What is important is that
you understand your algorithms and data structures.
If that sentence didn't make sense to you, read this for a start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_structure
Once you start to understand that, you will notice that different
algorithms and data structures are easier to implement in different
programming languages. So, first decide which data structures and
algorithms you need, and then choose an appropriate programming language.
Once you are more experienced, you can then decide to choose a
programming language based on "style" alone.
alex23
If this were true, someone might want to tell the Doryen Library devs
so they can stop wasting their time... :)
C is a low level language that doesn't do much to get between the
programmer and the machine. This is fantastic in terms of raw power,
but requires you to have a much broader and deeper knowledge of
internal computer architecture than the 'higher' level languages in
order to get something up and running.
Languages like Python, Smalltalk etc provide abstractions around the
low level architecture and handle a bunch of things that in most C
apps you would end up adding yourself, like memory management. It can
be a lot quicker for new programmers to get up and running with such
languages. However, when you inevitably hit a point where the
abstraction breaks down and requires that low-level understanding, it
can be difficult to realise this without that understanding in the
first place.
I would say that people recommended you start with something other
than C because they believe you'll see results from it more quickly.
This is most likely true, but as your knowledge of C grows, that gap
will shrink. Personally, I like to use a bit of both: high level langs
for the main code logic on top of low level libraries for the
performance.
Gerry Quinn
@d41g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>, wuw...@gmail.com says...
In fact C is probably the language that has most often been used to
make successful roguelikes. That doesn't mean it is the best choice
these days but clearly it is capable of doing it.
Two advantages of C are (i) you can look at the C-code of lots of
famous roguelikes, and (ii) a performance language like C actually
gives you something back in terms of ease of coding because you never
have to worry much about optimisation, and can concentrate on writing
clearly.
Really, the best language may be the language you are most comfortable
with. C is not the easiest language for beginners, but it is by no
means the hardest, and at least there is lots of help available on the
internet.
- Gerry Quinn
neilal...@gmail.com
Do you think I am probably best trying out a few languages before I pick one? Mayve some Common Lisp or python?
Mario Lassnig
> Thanks guys, yeah I am currently pretty happy with my choice of C.
>
> Do you think I am probably best trying out a few languages before I pick one? Mayve some Common Lisp or python?
sreservoir
> Thanks guys, yeah I am currently pretty happy with my choice of C.
>
> Do you think I am probably best trying out a few languages before I pick one? Mayve some Common Lisp or python?
bother switching, but do try other languages.
alex23
> Do you think I am probably best trying out a few languages before I pick one? Mayve some Common Lisp or python?
isn't necessarily a bad idea. Having one low-level and one higher
language in your tool kit is practically essential these days; its
also helpful to compare the contrasting approaches.
And there's no reason why they can't work together: C for the core
code, Python/Ruby/Perl/bash etc for your build & test environment, for
example. Being able to rapidly prototype an idea against general
enough libraries before hard coding your own specific implementation
is another handy technique to have too.
Joseph Bradshaw
1. You can make a roguelike with ANY programming language.
2. C (and C++) is a fantastic starting language. Can't think of one
better.
3. So for you, I say C is spot on.
simendsjo
> Thanks guys, yeah I am currently pretty happy with my choice of C.
>
> Do you think I am probably best trying out a few languages before I pick one? Mayve some Common Lisp or python?
You can code very C-ish if you like (it's not 100% backwards compatible
with C as C++ is), but you can also use templates, classes, functional
programming, design by contract, unittesting etc.
http://d-programming-language.org
Thomas Bartscher
Wally the Grey
> C (and C++) is a fantastic starting language. Can't think of one better.
Wally the Grey
> You might also look at D, my favorite :)
> You can code very C-ish if you like (it's not 100% backwards compatible
> with C as C++ is),
with it in C++.
#include <stdio.h>
int main (void) {
int class = 95;
printf("I graduated in the class of %d!", class);
return 0;
}