[toddmccreery]

Just a few questions I am just a project manager for a company, I have to decide what coding language to use, The game is a class mmorpg a bit like the game Fiesta Online, in the features wise I would like to know about Lau in this department if it is very limited in game design or if it has features and mind and can be very useful, how often does Lau encounter errors and make things difficult. If you think Lau isn't a good language what would you recommend? Game development wise. We also are looking for good security in the coding in which their will be less hackers.

[ButchDean]

Do you mean Lua?

[toddmccreery]

Yes I do mean Lua I just get a little mixed up sometimes.

[heyoman1]

Lua is the recommended language for scripting behind-the-scenes for any game as it is a lightweight (small, but powerful) language and has an easy-to-use API to communicate between a Lua script and C/C++ code.

[ButchDean]

To add you that heyoman1 pointed out, I doubt Lua has the tools support for complete browser-based games. Maybe someone more familiar with browser technologies could correct me on that score.

[toddmccreery]

Well its going to be a client based game, and behind the scences you mean like server files right? then for client files It could be coded in c++ or C. ? and How is the language being typing wise, So you have to enter a lot more commands then normal or would it be faster to code something in Lua then in a diffrence language?

[Oler1s]

Quote

I am just a project manager for a company, I have to decide what coding language to use

Don't. You aren't in a position to make the necessary evaluations. If you could actually what language to use, that would make you a programmer.

No, you can't just look at a feature list and make a decision. Unless you are experienced in the actual construction process, you cannot evaluate a construction tool.

Quote

We also are looking for good security in the coding in which their will be less hackers.

That depends on you having good programmers.

Quote

then for client files It could be coded in c++ or C. ?

Or other languages.

Quote

How is the language being typing wise

Succinct.

Quote

So you have to enter a lot more commands then normal or would it be faster to code something in Lua then in a diffrence language?

It's a small language. What it does, it does well and efficiently. But the small scope and tiny standard library mean that it is most effectively used with a host language or as part of a larger system, with other parts in other languages.

Again, please don't make the language choice.

[ButchDean]

Oler1s, on 17 May 2011 - 01:57 AM, said:

Quote

I am just a project manager for a company, I have to decide what coding language to use

Don't. You aren't in a position to make the necessary evaluations. If you could actually what language to use, that would make you a programmer.

No, you can't just look at a feature list and make a decision. Unless you are experienced in the actual construction process, you cannot evaluate a construction tool.

Quote

We also are looking for good security in the coding in which their will be less hackers.

That depends on you having good programmers.

Quote

then for client files It could be coded in c++ or C. ?

Or other languages.

Quote

How is the language being typing wise

Succinct.

Quote

So you have to enter a lot more commands then normal or would it be faster to code something in Lua then in a diffrence language?

It's a small language. What it does, it does well and efficiently. But the small scope and tiny standard library mean that it is most effectively used with a host language or as part of a larger system, with other parts in other languages.

Again, please don't make the language choice.

Got to agree here. Non-technical managers are not the best for approaching technical design and implementation.

[toddmccreery]

Tell me this, If I dont pick a language How do I know who to hire?

[ButchDean]

toddmccreery, on 17 May 2011 - 03:30 PM, said:

Tell me this, If I dont pick a language How do I know who to hire?

You do research by asking people who know how to build the technology you require in order to determine the skill sets you need. Shooting in the dark will do nothing for you.

[oktalBlizzard]

toddmccreery,

first of all, as others have pointed out, you are not the best person to take this decision.
Let's put it this way: if you don't know what language to choose, then you do not have enough knowledge about programming languages and their purposes anyway, and should leave this decision to the lead programers or software architects, depending on the structure of your company.

However, if you still persist and want the answer you were intending to receive, here it goes:

-Lua is NOT a language you would want to use as a MAIN language for creating a MMORPG. It was simply not designed to be used for that. It would make your programmers time like hell and eventually you would realise you have to switch to something more efficient for the task anyway. So, why waste the time? (please do not get me wrong, Lua is a great language for what it was designed, it simply wasn't meant to be used for what you were planning to use it for).

-As far as security goes, it is much more important to have good programmers and security testers (who would try to break/crack the security, manipulate the server and databases, do lots of buffer overloading tests and so on, very big task...) then the most secure programming language. Hackers are people too, and in many cases quite smart ones. They are not going to be put off by realising that you used some programming language that manages the memory very well and so on. At least not the serious ones. Some might actually get even more excited and take the task just for the thril of it.
So, make sure you get some experienced personel who excell in security/ penetration testing.

-Now, there are lots of great programming languages, and they all excell in at least some ares of software coding/creation. Most big comercial game companies use C++. Why? Because it has several very important features that help to get the maximum performance out of the computer hardware for max speed. Has some low-level features that might seem useless to the usual desktop software projects but in my opinion are very helpful in game development, as games are the most complicated pieces of software around. I won't go into explaining further, there is lots of info online.
Java is used in many browser-based games. Think of RuneScape, one of the most successful MMORPGs around. Java can be used to write both the client and the server. However, I would not go for it if the game is not browser based. In my oppinion, C++ with DirectX or OpenGL would be much better as you would get more performance, controll, graphics. etc. Again, it depends on your programmers' level.

-You can also consider C# (if you project is not too big, and you don't require the power of C++).

Just my 2c...
oktalBlizzard