Thread: The Benifits Of Programming In Other Languages Before C/C++

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    Registered User MicroFiend's Avatar
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    Thumbs up The Benifits Of Programming In Other Languages Before C/C++

    Im a QBasic, Pascal, VB programmer, Use the Win32 API and DirectX, iv recentley started programming in C++ bcuz i found that Gaming with VB was so WRONG it just eats up 2 many resources, but any way when i came to C++ the Conversion between the two languages was easy and by my third day of programming in C++ i have allready created numerous small GDI games with sprites, sounds and alsorts running at super frame rates and taking miniscule resources compared to VB now what i wanted to know i guess was:
    1) why is VB so ineficient when it comes to Gamming Compared To C++
    2) Do any of you know why people bother with other languages such as VB if aside from stricter syntax and no variable decleration they are more or less the same but C++ has more of a future so why bother with VB (K except for Database Apps)?
    3) Have Any Of You programmed before learning C and then found it an easy language to pick up?
    Just wondering

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    &TH of undefined behavior Fordy's Avatar
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    Re: The Benifits Of Programming In Other Languages Before C/C++

    Originally posted by MicroFiend
    1) why is VB so ineficient when it comes to Gamming Compared To C++
    Probably because it needs a big runtime to do anything and doesnt have as good support for direct memory access...add to this that its a totally proprietory with only M$ able to tweak, bugcheck & optimise it....also it was made to be as RAD as possible...and that much convienince has to come at a price

    Originally posted by MicroFiend
    2) Do any of you know why people bother with other languages such as VB if aside from stricter syntax and no variable decleration they are more or less the same but C++ has more of a future so why bother with VB (K except for Database Apps)?
    Because as you go deeper into C++, you realise how difficult it really is....being able to use C++ to manipulate APIs is one thing...being able to plan apps and optimise properly is another

    Originally posted by MicroFiend
    3) Have Any Of You programmed before learning C and then found it an easy language to pick up?
    C was my first REAL effort in programming...though I have dabbled in other things more recently - A little Java, some various scripting and some Assembler

  3. #3
    Code Monkey Davros's Avatar
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    Out of your list of programming languages, Pascal is the only one which comes close to C/C++. I started with BASIC years ago, then Pascal & Object Pascal, and now C++.
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    Registered User 4point5's Avatar
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    Cool

    The only other "language" I have ever used other than C/C++ is JavaScript. I tried to learn visual basic a few months ago, but the more I learned about it, the less I thought I would ever want to use it.

    C++ is the ultimate programming language and will reign supreme forever!!!
    Don't try so hard. Just let it happen.

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    From my experienc, I believe there is not alternative to C++ except C. C++ so unparalleled from an OOP perspective. If you want to learn a language that can be an effective bridge to C++, learn C.

    Kuphryn

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    Unregistered Leeman_s's Avatar
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    I took a semester class that taught BASIC, which caught my interest in programming. I had my dad get a copy of MSVC++ 6, and fooled around with it, not knowing anything but BASIC, lol. Then I learned a little bit from this website, borrowed my teachers C/C++ book, learned a bit more, bought my own book, and stayed with C after that. After using for so long, I've never bothered to learn classes, so I suppose you could say I really learned C not C++.

  7. #7
    C++ was the first language I learned, from there I found it easy to learn Java and then Javascript. Currently learning PHP and Perl and brushing up on my SQL.

    I've learned just enough VB to know that I hate it - I hate dim and miss my Classes. Everything that has come after C++ is much easier to understand and I find myself comparing other languages to C++ when I use them - it's easier to construct the code in my head using C++ and then convert it to the language I'm currently using.

    I think that next to C++, javascript has to be one of the best languages out there.
    My Avatar says: "Stay in School"

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    Refugee face_master's Avatar
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    C++ was the first and only language I've learnt (except crappy basic, I picked it up while sleeping in computer studies class where the teacher took 45 minutes to explain what a loop was then got it wrong). I've concentrated on it and become better at the one language as a result (though I havn't done any serious programming in a couple of months).

    //EDIT: I just remembered I have a book on Java and learnt that then realised that it sucks. I didn't go into deeper with Java becuase its too easy and I feel like a hack using it. For eg. theres a method for a full blown colour picker which would've taken the author like 6 months to write. In java, you're basically using other people's code in your apps and saying "I made that". Dont get me wrong; you do it in C++ to a certain extend, but its one thing to use other people's code to do basic things (for eg, functions like getline() etc.) but its another to use other people's code and call it your own (for eg, making people think that, for example, the colour picker java thing was your creation.)

    I'd just like to bring up another thing that I found funny bout people using VB.

    I was in commerce class and this kid my age who I hate with a passion (hes very arrogrant and is of Egyptian descent). He was making fun of me becuase I like to code in C++ and said stuff like "you think you can program in C++, but you can't. You need a university degree to do stuff like that." He said "I'm much better than you; I wrote this whole game in Windows, not DOS (this was the early stages of my learning C++ and I did everything in a console window). I said prove it. He said he'd give you screenshots of my game. I said "send me the code". He suddenly looked worried. He said "the code's too big!". Knowing he was writing it in VB, I said "what language is it in?" He said (and I quote) "um...C ... C+ ... uh .... C++." I was amazed. Half believing him, I asked "what compiler are you using?" He said "Visual Basic 6.0" I couldn't stop laughing! This kid didn't undertsnad the differences. I was always telling him that you have to learn the basics of C++ before you can go into windows. He'd always tell me that you didn't and that VB was the way to go. I seriously hate that kid. And whenever you try to speak to this kid, he puts his hand up to your face and closes his eyes and starts making fun of you making dumb comments like "oh go program a game in DOS" or something and you cant argue your point.
    Last edited by face_master; 11-06-2002 at 04:04 AM.

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    Bios Raider biosninja's Avatar
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    I started off in Basic. Moved to Pascal in high school. From there to C/C++. Then Java and Java script. Then Oracle.

    But my point is that one you have the basics of programming, your head is through the bars. It's just the different functions/methods and the syntax that's different.

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    Refugee face_master's Avatar
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    lol my edit was longer than my post. I must get a little carried away...

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    Refugee face_master's Avatar
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    But my point is that one you have the basics of programming, your head is through the bars. It's just the different functions/methods and the syntax that's different.
    Very true.

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    Bios Raider biosninja's Avatar
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    its too easy and I feel like a hack using it
    Thank you!!! Someone who feels the same as me.

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    Registered User 4point5's Avatar
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    Cool

    Off Topic:
    Face_Master, just whoop his little script kiddie ass right in the middle of class. I hate people like that too. I feel for you man.
    Don't try so hard. Just let it happen.

  14. #14
    Refugee face_master's Avatar
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    >> Face_Master, just whoop his little script kiddie ass right in the middle of class.

    I'd be suspended before I knew it... and I dont really wanna do that (in class, lol)

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