> Thanks, Tom, I feel better now.
Anytimemon:)-
> Really, the candidates in my mind are Java and C++. I suppose Java is the
> more politically correct choice. But I'm worried about it hiding too much
> (e.g. with garbage collection), whereas in C++, you can drill down and
> actually see how auto_ptr<T> works. Besides, I suspect C++ will long outlast
> Java.
Screw em both, but a qualified screwing.
Lets talk QuakeC. QuakeC is the old preDLL language folks used and use to
dev quake mods and full conversions. Its basis is C++ so the young tike
can take the skills and move along with them. But his learning ground will
be one of code and contest, of honor and honning, of the very essence of
proper and virtuos skills, that being the creation of SOMETHING from code
rather than the abstraction of reations most coders fall into these days.
Image the joy and spark , not to mention the late nights of coffe drinking
and chain smoking, he will grow into as he crafts a new quake level with
trigger scripts and AI behavior mods undreamt of by our alzhmeric aged
minds. This is a cahnce to take a shinning bright mind and mold it for the
creationand consruction of the important things in life, and learning of a
marketable skill to boot.
Its a win win.
He can move on to UNreal editing, or design modling (artistic vent) or
even, if you are indeed a bleesed parent, go on to code full games in asm.
The choices are unlimited, but his start can be powered by awe and wonder
rather than blan samness and K&R monotony (not to knock k and R but man
the amount of bland code that comes from folks reading those books is mind
numbing)