A little help from programmers

endgame · 10-29-2007, 10:21 AM

My son has decided to pursue his interest in coding, specifically beginning with small game designs on the PC. I'm almost useless addressing this area other than providing resources to help make decisions, e.g. the intro book he was perusing assumed he would be using CodeWarrior (the compiler?), but in researching the net for this product I concluded two things: it does not seem to be readily available, and where product lists were delineated I had no clue (by descriptions given) which one actually applied to Windows XP.

Any suggestions or advice on what tools or avenues for first steps in coding and a user-friendly compiler for an extremely bright, but often overly ambitious 17yr old who easily finds the hardest way to the simplest roads? (The acorn didn't fall far from the tree)

I'm really not sure where to start or whether this needs to become a holiday budgeted item instead of a fall hobby-intro. Thanks in advance.

eriqjaffe · 10-29-2007, 11:34 AM

Microsoft makes "light" versions of Visual Studio available:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express/default.aspx

That might be as a good place to start as any.

statfreak · 10-29-2007, 11:37 AM

You didn't indicate which language he would be using, but this is where I started...

http://www.cprogramming.com/

It is a decent resource for learning the C or C++ languages and has a small section on Compilers including talking about Code Warrior (which can be used for Java and C/C++) and free alternatives. I've done my limited C++ programming using the free Dev-C++ compiler.

If he is interested in Java, here is a nice free introduction... http://www.javapassion.com/javaintro/

Hope that helps.

Bobbert · 10-29-2007, 12:21 PM

for Java I really recommend the Eclipse IDE, www.eclipse.org , as environment.

Java is a great programing language to start learning. I would really recommend learning that before going on to C++

Nukester · 10-29-2007, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

Microsoft makes "light" versions of Visual Studio available:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express/default.aspx

That might be as a good place to start as any.

I think this would be a fantastic place to start. There are free "Express Editions" of VB.Net and C# (and a couple of others I think like ASP.Net), and they have a nice video tutorial section which really helped me get a very early feel for C#.

At work about a year back, we were kind of pressured into learning Java (and they werent springing for any kind of training), and I honestly didnt really like it much. For some reason I just could not get comfortable with it (we normally use VB, Visual Foxpro, and do some Oracle database programming). Once that whole idea went down the tubes here at work (they decided not to use it for now), I took a look at C# and was having alot of fun with it. C# is probably 70% like Java, 10% like VB (Visual Basic), 10% like C++, and 10% new stuff.

C++ is a very complicated and intimidating language for someone that has never programmed at all before. If he can wrap his head around that, then congratulations, because he would be well on his way to his dream.

I would personally go with VB.Net or C#, if anything just to learn and get comfortable with the idea of object oriented programming, before moving on

endgame · 10-29-2007, 01:47 PM

Thanks for the input, guys. I'm sure these are good starting places for him to get a feel for what it is he really wants to do without tackling something that might amount to an overwhelming experience that causes him to push it all aside. I greatly appreciate your taking the time to point me (him) in the right direction. Intro to Intro is what I always think works best when encountering the brand new and complex.

Nukester · 10-29-2007, 01:58 PM

No problem at all

There is also a free "Express Edition" for XNA Game Development, but that requires a decent knowledge of C#, and digs into DirectX and stuff like that, but thats also fun. In a couple of hours, I had a little wizard running around on screen shooting fireballs

Again, you need knowledge of classes, parameters, etc

10-29-2007, 10:21 AM	#1
endgame Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 16,842	A little help from programmers My son has decided to pursue his interest in coding, specifically beginning with small game designs on the PC. I'm almost useless addressing this area other than providing resources to help make decisions, e.g. the intro book he was perusing assumed he would be using CodeWarrior (the compiler?), but in researching the net for this product I concluded two things: it does not seem to be readily available, and where product lists were delineated I had no clue (by descriptions given) which one actually applied to Windows XP. Any suggestions or advice on what tools or avenues for first steps in coding and a user-friendly compiler for an extremely bright, but often overly ambitious 17yr old who easily finds the hardest way to the simplest roads? (The acorn didn't fall far from the tree) I'm really not sure where to start or whether this needs to become a holiday budgeted item instead of a fall hobby-intro. Thanks in advance. __________________ "Try again. Fail again. Fail better." -- Samuel Beckett _____________________________________________ Last edited by endgame; 10-29-2007 at 12:44 PM.

10-29-2007, 11:34 AM	#2
eriqjaffe Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Under The Christmas Fish Posts: 7,647	Microsoft makes "light" versions of Visual Studio available: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express/default.aspx That might be as a good place to start as any. __________________

10-29-2007, 11:37 AM	#3
statfreak Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 2,434	You didn't indicate which language he would be using, but this is where I started... http://www.cprogramming.com/ It is a decent resource for learning the C or C++ languages and has a small section on Compilers including talking about Code Warrior (which can be used for Java and C/C++) and free alternatives. I've done my limited C++ programming using the free Dev-C++ compiler. If he is interested in Java, here is a nice free introduction... http://www.javapassion.com/javaintro/ Hope that helps. __________________ Roll out the barrel!

10-29-2007, 12:21 PM	#4
Bobbert Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Linköping, Sweden Posts: 222	for Java I really recommend the Eclipse IDE, www.eclipse.org , as environment. Java is a great programing language to start learning. I would really recommend learning that before going on to C++ __________________

10-29-2007, 01:47 PM	#6
endgame Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 16,842	Thanks for the input, guys. I'm sure these are good starting places for him to get a feel for what it is he really wants to do without tackling something that might amount to an overwhelming experience that causes him to push it all aside. I greatly appreciate your taking the time to point me (him) in the right direction. Intro to Intro is what I always think works best when encountering the brand new and complex. __________________ "Try again. Fail again. Fail better." -- Samuel Beckett _____________________________________________

10-29-2007, 01:58 PM	#7
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	No problem at all There is also a free "Express Edition" for XNA Game Development, but that requires a decent knowledge of C#, and digs into DirectX and stuff like that, but thats also fun. In a couple of hours, I had a little wizard running around on screen shooting fireballs Again, you need knowledge of classes, parameters, etc