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Comment by eropple | Hacker News Reader

Learning to program C++ via game development strikes me as remarkably akin to learning to maintain a car by starting on a Ferrari. (Well, aside from the notion that a Ferrari is enjoyable to drive, anyway.)

C++ is tricky enough. Game development introduces additional layers of ugliness and complexity that I think can distract from actually learning to write good, secure, safe C++.

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On the other hand it is one of the fields where the use of C++ is completly warranted. It is fun and offers challenging problems. I started programming like that and I sure liked it.

Completely warranted? If you're doing very-high-end stuff, yes. For the majority of indie-esque games and the stuff you'll be capable of doing when learning to program, and learning to write sane code during your formative stages? Not so much.

C# with OpenTK (or SlimDX, or XNA) or Python with PyGame are both superior choices for that sort of thing.

To be fair not everyone is making indie games. Although I wouldn't suggest starting out with C++, and wouldn't suggest it to people wanting to make games for PC as a single developer in a small team, if you eventually want to be a programmer working on AAA PC, console or mobile games you have to know C++ well in order to get hired, even if you primarily work in a different language. C++ is also still required for higher end indie stuff. I don't see that changing any time soon.

If they're not making indie games, or are making "higher end indie stuff," they wouldn't be reading an article like this.

Eh not necessarily. Someone in high school or college could be reading this article because they want to work on AAA games in the future and need a decent starting point, not because they want to start making indie games right now. You have to learn somehow and the game industry still hires junior programmers.

You're talking about two different issues. If you're maintaining UDK or something, then yes, C++ is absolutely required. But people who maintain UDK aren't learning to program anymore. They know how to write solid C++ in their sleep, so they can focus on the challenges that game development throws at them.

What eropple was saying - and I completely agree - is that C++ is a difficult language to learn on, especially when writing games. I say this as someone who learned C++ mostly by working on games. The language can tend to distract you from the problems you're trying to solve, and vice versa. The time I spent hunting segfaults could have been used building a more stable codebase or getting my product to the players.

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