C++ (OpenGL) Game Development

[Marek Krzeminski]

Hello I'm new!

I recently started working with Java so I hope this forum can help me when I get into problems with Java. I'm a C++ programmer myself and from the looks of it, the transition to Java should be pretty straight forward.

If there is anyone interested in learning C++ Game Programming have a look at my website at www.marek-knows.com

[Campbell Ritchie]

Marek Krzeminski wrote:. . . I'm a C++ programmer . . . and . . . the transition to Java should be pretty straight forward.

Lots of people think that, and get stuck on generics or static or protected or enums, and find out how different Java™ is from C++.

[Marek Krzeminski]

A few things that caught me by surprise in Java already are:

* the whole "package" business
* member variables in a class that don't have coderanch,private,or protected written infront of them
* vectors of int, float, short etc
* all the auto-code generation features available in eclipse

I'm also still trying to get comfortable with the garbage collector. I'm not use to not deallocating memory after I request it using new.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Marek Krzeminski wrote: . . . * all the auto-code generation features available in eclipse

That's not a general Java™ feature, but is specific to Eclipse

I'm also still trying to get comfortable with the garbage collector. I'm not use to not deallocating memory after I request it using new.

That is a major advantage; automatic memory management, but you do have to get used to not using free or a destructor/finaliser.

By the way: There is one book I think is very good, and it is specifically intended for people who are familiar with C++: Horstmann and Cornell.

[edit]Spelling corrections[/edit]

[Jesper de Jong]

Marek Krzeminski wrote:I'm also still trying to get comfortable with the garbage collector. I'm not use to not deallocating memory after I request it using new.

I've been programming in Java for the past 12 years. Before that I was mainly using C++. Now I've been looking at C++ again and I have exactly the opposite problem: I'm reminded of how cumbersome it is that you have to keep track of everything manually and that you have to free up everything that you allocate. It's much too easy to create memory leaks in C++.