Programming ....

[TRshady]

lol, this is confusing and I haven't even started yet.

So what program shall I get and where do I get it from please?

[shn]

Originally posted by TRshady@23 July 2003 - 15:20
lol, this is confusing and I haven't even started yet.

So what program shall I get and where do I get it from please?

The main thing to do is to find some good books whether they be online or in a library. And if your really serious about getting into it then I recommend you take a couple classes at your local community college, or go to a university like me.

Nevertheless, your going to need a a good compiler. Borland makes good compilers. But I prefer gcc the opensource c compiler. That is mostly used on linux but now with the new cygin enviorment you can make and install programs under windows, or you can simply compile gcc from source on a windows box.................lol, compiling a compiler Anyway take advantage of the tools your being offered here in the forum, If youve got a chance to get them then I would do so if I were you. Programming suites and other development tools can cost thousands of dollars, unless their opensource, so If you can get them from someone on the forum or off kazaa that would probably be better

Most importantly, decide a language you would like to learn and just stick with it, then you can gradually start to explore other languages.

Im a c++ person myself. But you have to make the choice based on what you like and feel better working with. Good Luck

[gadfly]

I too want to expand my (limited) computer skills by learning some programming. I've picked up a book on C++ . It looked like learning it would be a good foundation from which to expand to other programming languages.

I've also been looking at Java - and wondering whether it might be equally worth learning.

Can anyone provide a 'thumbnail' comparison of these languages - the pro's and con's of each etc. Any advice?

Gadfly

[4play]

I too want to expand my (limited) computer skills by learning some programming. I've picked up a book on C++ . It looked like learning it would be a good foundation from which to expand to other programming languages.

I've also been looking at Java - and wondering whether it might be equally worth learning.

Can anyone provide a 'thumbnail' comparison of these languages - the pro's and con's of each etc. Any advice?

Gadfly

comparison hey that would take ages so lets put it this way.

learn a bit of both and you decide its the only real way

@shn cool did not know i could compile gcc under windows

[scott_hedrick]

Originally posted by shn+23 July 2003 - 21:59--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (shn @ 23 July 2003 - 21:59)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-4play@23 July 2003 - 14:51

not used anymore language called assembly language

shocked to hear you say that shn. it was used to make the k++ loader wasn&#39;t it.

it is still the best language to learn to make fast, compact application&#39;s but is bloody hard to say the least.

Your half way right. The reason I say halfway is because you and I both know that no one is going to sit down and write a "complex" program in raw machine language.

Even projects where there are a mass number of programmers working on it would never code in machine language. It would simply be a waste of time and unecessary work.

A simple loader or a program thats only going to fit into a couple hundred k of memory wouldnt be bad at all. But when it comes to writing complex programs with thousands of lines of code its simply not going to happen. [/b][/quote]
@shn - I am sorry to nitpick, but being a computer graphics guy, I would like to say that assembly language programming is indeed used by very large scale projects consisiting of several thousand lines at least.

I am using asm, as part of a team of 7, to write some very complex custom shaders for Mental Ray which provide visual effects that would otherwise take weeks/months to render, and can now be done in a few days or a week.

Do not discount the value of asm, since when you need code to be absolutely the fastest it can possibly be, and yet remain small enough to stay resident in the CPUs&#39; small caches, then you have no other choice.

The best compiler today for Intel CPUs (Intel ICC) simply cannot compete with its generated code to the asm performance-wise, nor can it manage to produce code that is reasonably small.

Please do not think that compilers are good enough that asm is no longer used for large projects. I certainly hope that compilers are someday good enough, but that day is still far off.

Spending 6 weeks writing those shaders saved us about 4 months so far in rendering time, and a lot of money in processor time at a render-farm. Its still in use today, so its still saving us time and money and headache etc...

Sorry for that rant...

Scott

[I.am]

As a programmer myself I agree with Scott. Even in deep encryption program or in big programs some part of the programs are written in asm. That is the only language in which you can directly access the registers.
But I do agree on the point that no one will right big programs completely in asm. Simple programs take extra time and code to right. But the best part of asm is that the program file size is hardly anything and I love that.

@Shady, shn gave nice suggestions. Pick a language (high-level right now --&#62; C++, Java, etc) and start with it. Get the tutorials and get it going. And as mentioned before Visual Basic is a good language too. Once you know the logic you can code in any language That is the best part about programming.