[akareem27]

Hey everybody,brand new to programming in general.I read somewhere on google that python should be the doorway into programming because its easy to learn yet powerful.My end goal is to make games starting off in "small" games as in maybe psn or xbox live or maybe android,ipod/iphone/ipad games then moving up from there.So with that being said is python a good choice to start off in and what language should i go from here if any?
I just started learning python yesterday and can make a hello world app,and hi-whats-your-name and display the txt the user wrote app without reffering to the book now.Yayy!! lol (i know, I Know)

This post has been edited by akareem27: 21 December 2010 - 09:30 PM

[Martyr2]

Well, like all programming languages some are better suited to certain tasks that others. This is not to diss on python by any means, it is a great language to learn from and yeah, it is powerful. But if you are looking to do ps3 or xbox stuff, you might want to take a look at languages like C# and doing stuff through XNA. As for mobile, it is almost all Java or Objective-C.

Now since you are brand new to programming, any language like Python is going to do nothing but help you so I recommend you keep going with what you are doing. It will help you move to other languages faster that will get you in the track for game programming or mobile development. If you are feeling adventurous, try giving Java a shot. If you have a mac, try objective-C. The learning curve on those are not too bad either and you will be right in line for what you are doing.

But like I said, learning Python is going to do nothing but help you in whatever you do. I just don't think you will find it incredibly helpful in game designing or mobile development as a platform, it will help you more in learning proper programming techniques... which transcends all programming languages.

Hope that helps.

[akareem27]

I saw that doing some research that c# was for games but I read that once you learn one language you can basically jump around from one to another just learning some tweaks and syntax differences.I read that python was the easiest to start and really couldnt find a good "no-prior experience tutorial on c#.I found one that assumes nothing on python (dont wanna spam links) so I started with that.
Alot of ?'s on the net say that c++ and c# are difficult to start with so i went with python with it being the easiest to grasp the programming concept

[atraub]

Python is an excellent beginner language. When I worked as an undergraduate research assistant it was the language we used in the intro to Computer Science class. There are many great resources for learning it, check my blog or the Python resource thread for more information.

[Seta00]

Martyr2, on 22 December 2010 - 01:21 AM, said:

As for mobile, it is almost all Java or Objective-C.

Hey, don't forget the Unreal Development Kit is now on the iOS!

[atraub]

Haha if we're going there, then don't you forget about TORQUE!

[akareem27]

I decided to jump in c#.sorry,I went to the book store and was looking for head first python and the guy there was helping me look and I found head first c#.I read a lil in the beginning and it seemed easy to follow.I told the guy who was working there who happen to be in college for cpu science and he said if you wanna get into gaming prog. you should start in c# it not as hard as c++.So I purchase the head first C# and so far so good.thanks for all your help

[Seta00]

Am I the only one here who never read a programming book (a physical copy)?

[akareem27]

I needed one.I have no programmer friends to help me or give lessons and alot of the tutorials I find online assume to much.I have no prior exp.,And the tutorials i found assumed you know a little.So i decided to go "head first".lol

[Dogstopper]

Seta00, on 23 December 2010 - 02:15 PM, said:

Am I the only one here who never read a programming book (a physical copy)?

Perhaps that's a better question for another forum...

@akareem27: I have never used C# in depth, but from what I've seen, it's pretty great in terms of game programming. Glad you found the language that you like.

[RedRabbit]

With Python you can easily program apps for android, so Im thinking games will not be such a problem if you are targeting the android handset. For the iphone its you need to know C

[Dogstopper]

RedRabbit, on 27 December 2010 - 08:35 AM, said:

With Python you can easily program apps for android, so Im thinking games will not be such a problem if you are targeting the android handset. For the iphone its you need to know C

While scripting in Python on Android is possible, the primary language of Android IS Java and it will in general, run faster on Android than a Python script will (unless it's using Jython). And the iPhone uses Objective C, not C

[RoseWyvern]

If you're completely new to programming you might start with the "invent with python" eBook. It's really basic, but a decent overview. It also will walk you through a few very simple games, including one with graphics and sounds.

Also, it's worth echoing that most game programming will be done in a language like c++ or c#. (Yet I learned qBasic first and I turned out fine )


Oh, languages like c++ aren't really "hard", they just aren't easy, and most people don't want to put in the time, and they especially don't want to a)plan or actually think about the theory.

[atraub]

While I don't want to get toooo far from Python on this board, this seems like a good time to put in a plug for The Game Institute if you want to get into indie game programming. SixOfEleven speaks very highly of it on his blog.

To weigh in on your original topic, Python is an excellent 'gateway language.' Well rounded programmers have a lot of options, someone who only takes the time to learn 1 avenue of programming will probably find themselves limited. Learn to be a programmer, then become a game programmer. You'll have much more to fall back on if you find yourself against a brick wall.

This post has been edited by atraub: 29 December 2010 - 12:20 PM

[blutrane]

atraub, on 29 December 2010 - 07:32 AM, said:

Learn to be a programmer, then become a game programmer.

This