OOP, faster data layouts, compilers

[Daniel Gibson]

Am 22.04.2011 19:11, schrieb Kai Meyer:
> On 04/22/2011 11:05 AM, Daniel Gibson wrote:
>> Am 22.04.2011 18:48, schrieb Kai Meyer:
>>>
>>> I don't think C# is the next C++; it's impossible for C# to be what
>>> C/C++ is. There is a purpose and a place for Interpreted languages like
>>> C# and Java, just like there is for C/C++. What language do you think
>>> the interpreters for Java and C# are written in? (Hint: It's not Java or
>>> C#.) I also don't think that the core of Unity (or any decent game
>>> engine) is written in an interpreted language either, which basically
>>> means the guts are likely written in either C or C++. The point being
>>> made is that Systems Programming Languages like C/C++ and D are picked
>>> for their execution speed, and Interpreted Languages are picked for
>>> their ease of programming (or development speed). Since D is picked for
>>> execution speed, we should seriously consider every opportunity to
>>> improve in that arena. The OP wasn't just for the game developers, but
>>> for game framework developers as well.
>>
>> IMHO D won't be successful for games as long as it only supports
>> Windows, Linux and OSX on PC (-like) hardware.
>> We'd need support for modern game consoles (XBOX360, PS3, maybe Wii) and
>> for mobile devices (Android, iOS, maybe Win7 phones and other stuff).
>> This means good PPC (maybe the PS3's Cell CPU would need special support
>> even though it's understands PPC code? I don't know.) and ARM support
>> and support for the operating systems and SDKs used on those platforms.
>>
>> Of course execution speed is very important as well, but D in it's
>> current state is not *that* bad in this regard. Sure, the GC is a bit
>> slow, but in high performance games you shouldn't use it (or even
>> malloc/free) all the time, anyway, see
>> http://www.digitalmars.com/d/2.0/memory.html#realtime
>>
>> Another point: I find Minecraft pretty impressive. It really changed my
>> view upon Games developed in Java.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> - Daniel
> 
> Hah, Minecraft. Have you tried loading up a high resolution texture pack
> yet? There's a reason why it looks like 8-bit graphics. It's not Java
> that makes Minecraft awesome, imo :)

No I haven't.
What I find impressive is this (almost infinitely) big world that is
completely changeable, i.e. you can build new stuff everywhere, you can
dig tunnels everywhere (ok, somewhere really deep there's a limit) and
the game still runs smoothly. Haven't seen something like that in any
game before.