Becoming a dev


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I've asked a few times on different threads, but where's a good place to start learning how to develope your own games and learning how to work on emulators? It would be cool to start with the iPhone or something till I get my pandora. If it means anything I just ordered a caanoo also.
 
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You could try the Dev section. There's supposed to be tutorials on programming there. Hopefully that gets you started. Then you can find tutorials online. Also, the old forums had a few threads on this. Sorry for the brief reply, but I don't want to get ninja'd.


Edit: I thought this was a decent conversation: http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/51957-ok-i-am-a-noob-how-can-i-contribute-to-development-games-software-and-stuff/page__p__812606__hl__development__fromsearch__1&#entry812606


Edit2: Ok, maybe that wasn't the one I was thinking of. Anyway, the first step is to pick your programming language. Many people like Python because it seems easier to pick up (I've never used it). PyGame is supposed to be really good.


Some people like C++ because it is both powerful and common across platforms. However, it is pretty low level, so it can discourage beginners.


Objective C is used for iPhone development. That's about all I know about it. I don't use Apple products.


There are more languages, like Java or C#, but I'm not sure about their implementation on the Pandora.
 
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Thanks I really appreciate it. Time to start studying !!!! Oh and my bad on the double post my phone lagged up:(
 
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Python is a good language to start with - the standard Python tutorial is how I learned it originally. It's also a good language in general - powerful, quick to prototype, and with pretty much all mod cons. Some people don't like it for silly reasons like its use of indentation, but the one good reason for not using it on Pandora at the moment is that IIRC the best game libraries for it use SDL, and SDL doesn't run that fast on the Pandora until someone spends some time optimising it - which they will, but it's not there yet. Core Python should run quickly enough though.


C or C++ or even Java will probably run faster in most cases, but if you really need speed in Python you can write the critical bits of it in C using ctypes, or even write Python that compiles to C using Cython.


In case you couldn't guess, I rather like Python. You can write anything from a simple helloworld program to the sort of system that I work with for my day job. The only languages I dislike are C++ and Perl, and even those have their place.
 
Some people don't like it for silly reasons like its use of indentation, but the one good reason for not using it on Pandora at the moment is that IIRC the best game libraries for it use SDL, and SDL doesn't run that fast on the Pandora until someone spends some time optimising it - which they will, but it's not there yet. Core Python should run quickly enough though.

indentation: >.< this makes baby fsm cry


in regards to py for gaming, pydance runs well enough, sdl certainly isn't slow as such, unless you try doing something ridiculous with it


(oh and don't learn to program for a phone, better to start with a console and a c compiler, or something similar)
 
Well, I may be alone with that here, but I think before even thinking about making games, you should know the language really good. Starting with a game does not seem like a good idea to me.


Learning the language the proper way will take much time. Several months until you know the essentials (most people seem to have half a month to a month just for understanding (but not yet being able to use) polymorphism) and then add a few years of just gaining experience. Of course, because you want to make games, you could gain that experience by, well, making games, but you'll probably make many design mistakes and many lines of crude code because you lack the experience. I know I did ;)


Learning to program properly is a long and tedious task. Don't think you can read a tutorial for a week and then know all there is to know. I don't want to scare you off, I just think that many people underestimate the time and effort it takes to learn programming.


For the language.. If you wanted to become a programmer, I'd start with a lower level one like C or C++ (just to gain knowledge of how memory allocation works, what pointers are and so on) and then move on to a higher level one like Java (I personally like java). If you just want to make games, though, then you can scratch that and start with a higher language. I never used python myself, so I can't really say where it stands.


I would also advise you to buy a learning book about the language. Online tutorials are fine, but often nowhere near as good as a proper book.
 
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First, choose a programming language and learn how to make simple applications. I think C++ would be a good one, and it's easy to find tutorials and documentation, and it allows you to learn Procedural programming and OOP.


Then learn how to use SDL, there are loads of tutorials on internet.
 
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I think the main ingredient of becomming a dev is having a project you are willing to put a lot of effort in. Having a clear goal always helped me learn programs but it also helps to make a program. If you have a clear goal that you desperatly want to make start with it research what the program needs to do and then just start coding. Use snippets from others and get the feeling of general ideas from other programs. After that all it takes is determination.


(I have made the very first beginnings of my musical evolution thingamajig in PureData, I only know PD for a couple of weeks but having a goal makes it graspable)
 
Also consider finding a friend who would be interested in programming. I can think of a lot of advantages. I can't think of any disadvantages. Klaue is right. Learning to program takes a long time. It's probably a lifelong pursuit. But eventually, you can make a program that actually does something that kinda sorta impresses someone. And that feels pretty good.
 
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