Hi,
I'm doing a course called Software Design and Development for HSC in a high school in Australia. HSC is basically the courses you do that you get assessed on for University entrance.
I haven't really done programming before, although I've seen source code and can decipher it and make small changes. I am also quite good with the general use of computers.
One of the major projects we will do in the course is the making of a game (although it's not just game-making that we do. We also have to develop a software solution package, although I'm not sure what that is..) I was wondering whether Java is a good language to use. In class, our teacher covers Visual Basic, but I don't think that's terribly good if I want to do well in the course. We are allowed to use any language we want. The other option I was considering was C++. With Java and C++, I have to learn the language in my own time, not in class. But I have self-teaching guides for both. I also want to join a programming club that enters members into programming competitions.
So my question is this: is Java a good language for me to learn to use in this course and in the programming club/competitions, given what I've described above, and is C++ or VB better for this purpose, and why? Btw, I am not looking at a career in IT, so basically, I drop what I learn once I hit uni, except perhaps as a hobby.

Thank you very much.

This post has been edited by phpandsql: Feb 7 2008, 10:16 AM

JAVA is all in all a good language. But for game programming, it lacks some of the bells & whistles for the desktop platform as it is an interpreted language and has very limited 2D & 3D capabilities, for mobile platform it is ideal.

Visual Basic is much better at game programming on Windows Desktop because of better integration with the DirectX libraries. (I don't know the version you are considering, I'm talking about the .NET platform). It can't be used for the mobile platform.

C++ is the best choice for the Desktop platform.


In my opinion you can learn JAVA. It's syntax resembles that of C++. And it will also help you in programming competitions.

If you tutor is covering visual basic then use that, it will be easier if you have questions about VB to ask them about it. If you choose java you will need to do more researching on your own IMO since its not covered by your tutor. I think it will make life easier since schools don't really give you enough time to research before any assessments are due.

i am in this course but all we do everyday is play age of Empires all class long.....im not complaining but it would be nice if the teacher taught every once in a while because i am intrested in programming myself.

Self-study options
Java In A High School Software Design Course

Replying to rickyRconti

That's too bad - neglect is the worst form of abuse.

There are a number of good free "tutorial" sites, one of the best being put out by Sun Microsystem (the makers of Java!) at:

Http://java.Sun.Com/docs/books/tutorial/index.Html

This site should get you started. The next thing you'll need is to install the JDK at home (because you're spending too much time playing games at school!) Then you'll want to use an IDE to edit/compile programs. I reccommend using BlueJ. All these materials are free and relativeley easy to set up.

At some point you'll need someone to start guiding your study. Perhaps your teacher would be a bit more motivated if you shared your progress with him.

In the end, our best teachers are ourselves. Just keep at it and you should do fine. Good luck!

-reply by TJ Evert

I personally don't mind needing to study in my own time. I think about month should be enough...and we have about 6 months to do our game project.
From your responses, I think Visual C++ would be a good option for me, as I believe it has DirectX library integration, and uses the C++ syntax, which will help me if I need to learn Java in the future. I know it's not as popular as Java, but I did a bit more research into Java and I found that one of the main reasons it's so popular is because of its high portability, which I don't need.




This post has been edited by phpandsql: Feb 9 2008, 05:58 AM