Within the market there are multiple programming languages that we can come across and it is very easy to fall into the so-called ” analysis paralysis “, that is, thinking so much about a situation that you never make a decision. When this decision is too complicated (or there are too many opportunities) we get stuck and don’t move forward, fossilizing ourselves in the analysis phase, trying in every way to find a perfect solution.
If you don’t pay the right attention you could miss several opportunities and cause various problems. In this case we will clarify the types of programming languages that are useful for Game Development .
Is programming difficult? Study, study, study.
We start from the assumption that programming is a profession and that the product of information technology has now become commonly used. Programming is actually not difficult but, like any type of activity or profession, it requires years of study, years of application and years of production, failing and trying again several times. Programming is like science and like all scientific subjects, time and dedication are needed to learn it and above all to apply it.
In fact, becoming a programmer requires: studying manuals and watching tutorials, verifying everything you have learned with programming, reading and analyzing the codes of other programmers (if available online) and repeating all the steps until you understand all the dynamics of the case.
In practice you need to identify the problem and break it down into simpler steps , understand the logic behind the algorithm (just as you had to understand the logic behind a mathematical formula at school), understand how to implement the algorithm in the programming language and finally test it to understand any errors and try again.C++ and C#, the most used languages?
C++ and C#, the most used languages?
Let’s now get to the heart of the topic and answer the main question that interests us: what are the most popular programming languages that we should learn to develop video games? The answer is the word most hated by everyone… it depends . And it really depends on many factors, such as the type of game you want to develop or the type of platform on which you want to publish it.
For a triple A , the most widespread and requested language is certainly C++, which has now been a standard in the gaming industry for more than 20 years. It is used in video games, with the main help of a development platform like Unreal Engine , because it is really fast and does not perform most of the controls done by high-level languages like C#, but at the same time it is disadvantageous since it is more complex , forcing you to put a lot of effort into the code you write.
Another choice – more common in independent video games – is C#, currently a successful choice thanks to Unity ‘s popularity among indie development studios. But CryEngine , for example, now supports it too, just like many others. Familiarity with C# allows you to adapt these development environments according to your wishes and allows you to build a portfolio of projects to enrich your CV and gain experience . Games like Terraria , Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic and Neverwinter , for example, were developed partly or completely in C#.
For web video games (like Slither.io , Akinator , etc.), however, you need to know HTML, CSS and Javascript ; in fact, various mobile platforms have various native languages, including Swift for iOS and Java for Android.
Going more specifically, for web-based video games the choice is almost obligatory with HTML5 for the elements of a page, CSS3 to provide a style and formatting to the elements created on the page, JavaScript to ensure that the elements on the page function and SQL to save all data entered.
The good thing about this option is that the web development market is absolutely vast. The same set of languages you use to develop web-based games are useful for any other type of web-developed project , opening up as many avenues of work as possible.
In conclusion, when you decide what to learn, it is essential not to let yourself be paralyzed by the choice . Choose the language that you think will be most useful to you and study it thoroughly. No time is wasted, even if it seems that the programming language is “wrong”; Once you learn to think like a programmer, switching to a new language will be much easier .