sleepmode

fighting game knowledge seeker

aka orin | salaryman gamer | fgc jack of all trades | mvc/ggxx/vf | marxist


I’ve had “actually learning how to code” on my radar for a while now, and for the past few weeks I’ve bee considering just throwing myself into the deep end and learning C++1, but aside from the one online resource that is dedicated to teaching people C++ from the ground up, everywhere is like “if you’re new to programming, you should start with Python bc it’s way easier”

Idk if I buy that methodology per se, but it does leave me wondering if I should just start by learning Lua to start off with? Since that would allow me to actually create concrete things I want to see (fighting game training mode scripts for BizHawk and the like). Much to consider, it would seem.


  1. Primarily motivated by the fact that what little currently exists for an Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 rollback mod is coded in C++ and I really need that shit to be a reality. Don’t worry, I am fully aware of how god damn difficult that would be


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in reply to @sleepmode's post:

It really depends on what you're aiming for and how confident you are. C++ is great and I think it can work as a first language, but it also expects a lot of more advanced things. Python is often recommended, for example, because it allows you to learn about program flow and logic without worrying as much about what the fuck types are.

This is only a personal opinion after watching people try to learn to program for a few decades, but the simple fact that you have projects in mind suggests that you should start with Lua. The projects will keep you motivated when you need to learn something that you wouldn't otherwise care about, and that's far more important than starting in some hypothetical (and completely imaginary) "right place."

That’s more or less what I was leaning towards as I thought on it -- my potential Lua projects at least give me that concrete thing to work towards, rather than the potential C++ thing that would require me to have a deeper understanding of a whole bunch of other related computer science concepts