C vs C++ ... or whatever language

[Hans_]

It is not denial IMO, in the game industry you've no choice if you're into maximum performance, C++ is the de facto standard. These guys are very talented and experienced developers. They just «suffer» from using C++.

They only suffer from using C++ if they don't know how to use it.

I use both C and C++, depending on the project. Early on I preferred to use C in an object orientated fashion (using Abstract Data Types (ADT)). Then I realised I was writing lots of boilerplate code that the C++ compiler generates automatically (e.g., allocating/deallocating objects). That's when I switched to C++, and made an effort to learn how to use it properly.

Every programming language has its pros, cons, and tradeoffs...

Hans

[Hans_]

@Dayntona, Hand & Thor
I don t think That shipping successfully 2 games like Braid and The Witness make him a bad C++ programmer. Check his YouTube channel or better ask him directly on Twitter.
It seems that not a single C++ book did a good job teaching how to program properly in C++. Who need a phone book size one to just scratch the surface? Why big games companies need to wrote their own STL implementation to have good performance?

In no way was I slagging off any particular developer's skill. I simply disagree with claims that C++ is so horrible that people "suffer from" it.

I'm sure that Jon Blow is a competent programmer, and I like his games (got The Witness). I also wish him well with developing his own programming language. After taking a quick look at his new language, it's pretty clear that he's spent some time tinkering with Haskell...

He may well be able to make some innovative improvements over existing languages, creating one that suits his programming style and game development well. However, like every programming language ever written, it's highly likely that his language will solve the shortcomings that frustrated him with other languages, but end up with a new set of compromises and limitations. Others will get frustrated with how it can't do certain things they want as easily as they'd like, and they'll start dreaming about creating their own programming language...

Hans