Considering a new language

[Moneo]

... learn Java first, then C++ ....

Should I learn these over the weekend, like?
Seriously, I can't learn new languages unless I have work to do with them plus some sample code with a person to ask questions.
*****

[LooseCaboose]

Java has to be interpreted, thus slower.

web stuff: Java
"real" (compiled) programs: C/C++

But personally I hate all that interpreted bytecode and JVM nonsense so I'm going for C++.

Bah, checkout these sites for Java compilers that produce native executable code:
gcc.gnu.org/java/
http://www.excelsior-usa.com/jetdev.html

Or if you want to compile to native code from class files dynamically (while the application is being run):
www.sun.com/solaris/jit/
www.shudo.net/jit/
latte.snu.ac.kr/

Java is a good language to learn, it is well designed, clean object orientated language with a high level of support and portability. C# is similar to Java with some powerful new features, most notably is that it is a .NET language, which allows you to write parts of your code in C# and other parts in another .NET language (such as VB.NET or Mondrian) and easily combine them into a single application.

C is the standard in UNIX, low-level and embedded programming, it is well standardised and powerful but can be difficult to learn. Examples of programs written largely in C are the Quake series, Linux, Win2K and OpenGL. C++ was designed as an object orientated language based on C, it took off when it was created and has become the standard alongside C and Java for application devleopment. IMHO it is an ugly hack of a language, but has still managed to become an industry standard even though languages such as Java and Smalltalk implement the OO paradigm far better. C++ has been used to write the Unreal series, OpenOffice and Rotor (a .NET implementation).

As far as graphics go, you would probably be best to learn C or C++ and either DirectX or OpenGL, both are good but OpenGL is only a graphics library, whereas DirectX has support for input, sound, etc. C and C++ are both good languages for doing mathmatics in, although if you want to do really serious math with a programming language you could try Matlab or Maple (I think these are both commercial($$$) languages though).

HTH

[SCM]

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions.

LooseCaboose,
I actually have MATLAB 5, but it is the student version, and does not allow matrices over 128x128. Since everything in MATLAB is a matrix, bitmaps are also limited to 128x128. It does do some graphics exceptionally well. Since line segments are defined by their endpoints, they print at printer resolution. Of course it excells at matrix and vector math.
I use it, but for most programming, especially when I am plotting points I still turn to QB. Do you have access to MATLAB?

Pip,
What do you think of the fox. It has been in my family for a long time. My dad drew the original 35 to 40 years ago as part of a logo for FOX CANYON ENTERPRISES, a joke company. We digitized it about 15 years ago.

[Mango]

What do you think of the fox. It has been in my family for a long time. My dad drew the original 35 to 40 years ago as part of a logo for FOX CANYON ENTERPRISES, a joke company. We digitized it about 15 years ago.

Love it...especially now that I have the story!!!

[na_th_an]

I was talking semi-seriously. I'd really like to become a cell phone gemes maker, but I still don't know anything about it (I only know how to code Java).

Moneo: It is quite simple: games are written in Java and compiled to a .class, which is a bytecode than can be interpreted in many systems. That means that you only have to care about some specifics and the rest of the code is the same for the various models of cell phones.

[Hard Rock]

Nathan, there were a couple of posts over at another board that had some info on how to get your cellphone game published, and to develop for it i believe theres an emulator out somewhere, and youd develop for the emulator.

If you want i can pm you with some more info.

Should I learn these over the weekend, like?
Seriously, I can't learn new languages unless I have work to do with them plus some sample code with a person to ask questions.

Not a weekend, but it shouldnt take you more than a month to pickup a new language, mastering it will take longer, but just being able to pick up and code in a new language isnt hard, once your familiar with one or two lanaguages. The syntax may differ slighlty, but if youve got a really good reference it shouldnt take long.

[na_th_an]

Nice, Hard Rock. I will tell ya when I have time enough to really work on it. Thanks.

[Mech1031]

I was talking semi-seriously. I'd really like to become a cell phone gemes maker,

The one on the far right...
Click Here

[LooseCaboose]

Do you have access to MATLAB?

Yeah, we have it running on the Campus network. I actually took a first year math paper this year just to learn how to use Matlab, so Im still pretty new at it. We use it for modelling and analysing real world systems, where using another programming language would require to much overhead. I think that the professional version of Matlab is only limited by how much memory you have on your machine, what are you using matrices larger than 128x128 for?

[SCM]

As I said, everything is a matrix. If you want to make a bitmap image, it has to be less than 128x128 (or equivalent). If you want to animate an object, their animation feature uses bitmaps, so the sum of the frames has to be less than 128x128. There are ways to work around this, but it's a pain. Many of their demos also require larger matrices.

I've included a simple program that I wrote. It plots the first three series of circles tiling the interior of a circle. I actually wrote a QB version first, but it isn't the same. Since Matlab handles each of the circles as an object, you can zoom in without much loss of quality (within limits). This is also an example of where MatLab's printing qualities shine. This is not a real world problem, as you have been working on, but I enjoyed it. Notice that the radius, and x and y coordinates of the center of each circle reduce to fairly simple algebraic expressions with clear patterns.

If you try to print it, change the fill's to plot's and just print the outlines, or change the palette. I like the subtle palette I used but it doesn't print well.

Code:

% This is a solution to one of a series of Japanese geometry
% problems in the May 1998, Scientific American.  I took the
% problem one step further.  

n=50;
fig = figure;
set(fig,'position',[10,10,960,720],'color',[1 1 1]);
set(gca,'position',[0,0,1,1]);
axis([-4/3,4/3,-1,1]*1.01);axis off; hold on;

Theta = [0:256]*pi/128;
cosTh = cos(Theta);
sinTh = sin(Theta);

fill(cosTh,sinTh,'k')                                  
%plot(cosTh,sinTh,'k')

%============  first series =============

for i = 2:n                  
   denom = (i-2)^2+2
   xnum = 2*(i-2);
   ynum = (i-2)^2-1;
   for j = -1:2:1        
      XofTh = (cosTh+j*xnum)/denom;      
      for k = -1:2:1                            
         if ((xnum~=0)|(j==-1))&((ynum~=0)|(k==-1))
            YofTh = (sinTh+k*ynum)/denom;
            fill(XofTh,YofTh,pal(4*i,:));
            %plot(XofTh,YofTh,'k');
         end  
      end
   end  
end

%=========== second series =============
for i = 1:n-2
   denom = 4*i*(i-1) + 15;
   xnum = 8*i-4;
   ynum = denom-15;
   for j = -1:2:1
      XofTh = (cosTh+j*xnum)/denom;
      for k = -1:2:1
         if ((xnum~=0)|(j==-1))&((ynum~=0)|(k==-1))
            YofTh = (sinTh+k*ynum)/denom;
            fill(XofTh,YofTh,pal(4*i,:));
            %plot(XofTh,YofTh,'k');
         end
      end  
   end  
end

%============  third series =============
for i = 1:n-3
   denom = 4*i*(i+1) + 6;
   xnum = 8*i+4;
   ynum = denom-9;
   for j = -1:2:1
      XofTh = (cosTh+j*xnum)/denom;
      for k = -1:2:1
         YofTh = (sinTh+k*ynum)/denom;
         fill(XofTh,YofTh,pal(4*i,:));
         %plot(XofTh,YofTh,'k');
      end  
   end  
end