Tell me about C/C++

**ninja9578** · 01-19-2010 11:57 PM

Well if you're using glut, you can register a callback for that. Otherwise, you have to have a loop that continually check for it.

Code:

#include <pthread.h>
pthread_t keyboard_thread;
void * keyboard(void * argument){
   char mychar = '\0';
   while(mychar != 'x'){  loop until an x is pressed
      fflush(stdin);
      scanf("%c",&mychar); 
      switch (mychar){
         case ' ':
            cout << "Space bar pressed" << endl;
            break;
      }
   }
   return 0;
}

int main(){
   pthread_create(keyboard_thread, NULL, keyboard, NULL);

   //Do whatever you want

   return 0;
}

That's threading though, which is a little more complicated.

**khh** · 01-20-2010 12:03 AM

That'll only get input characters, though, like space and a, b, c, (...). The arrow keys and enter and all of those won't be registered, right? Also, pthreads doesn't work on windows.

**ninja9578** · 01-20-2010 12:15 AM

pthreads works on windows

I use it all the time.

And yeah, then you use glut or another library with keyboard callbacks built in like wxWidgets or Qt or the Windows API

**Ynot** · 01-20-2010 12:23 AM

intercepting keystrokes is non-trivial
as it's highly dependent on the environment (including whether the input stream is buffered or not)

Best bet is to use a curses library
(that's what all the text adventure games use)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curses_...ing_library%29

**slash112** · 01-20-2010 12:41 AM

Jesus shitter, it sure is complicated for such a simple thing.

**Ynot** · 01-20-2010 01:11 AM

Well, intercepting keystrokes straight off the device isn't simple
The OS has hooks to the keyboard device, and you're overriding them

But the complexity of many things boils down to the desire to remain platform & architecture neutral

I'm sure there's a simpler Windows specific hook you could tap into to intercept keyboard characters, but then you're hamstrung to a specific platform
(and at the mercy of the platform to maintain the hook across future versions of the OS)

**ninja9578** · 01-21-2010 08:25 PM

Hooks are abstracted, Windows can change them and the APIs should still all work fine. Oh, abstraction is something that should be added to that list that I made.

**Alric** · 01-22-2010 10:13 PM

I have taken a bunch of different programing classes, and really the key is getting into the right frame of mind. Once you know one program its a lot easier to learn most others. Even entirely different programs use the same basic concepts.

**ninja9578** · 01-23-2010 01:43 AM

I find that's true only if it's in the same paradigm. Knowing a procedural language it hard to go into a OOP language, and an assembly language is really weird.

**Alric** · 01-23-2010 02:11 AM

That is probably true. The ones I have worked with is java and c++ which are very alike. And the oracle programing language which is used for databases and stuff, I forget what it is called but its a lot like them too. As is HTML, which is like an entirely different area making webpages and stuff, but interactive websites uses a very similiar method.

Also the small programs you download for like games and stuff. A lot of time they got their own languages for using inside the game(like games that lets you make maps and stuff). A lot of time they are based off this same type of stuff.

There can be big changes at time. But once you learn one it defenitly helps you with learning all the related ones.

**khh** · 01-23-2010 02:49 AM

Originally Posted by ninja9578

I find that's true only if it's in the same paradigm. Knowing a procedural language it hard to go into a OOP language, and an assembly language is really weird.

I don't know about that. I first learned "programming" in PHP (which I reckon as a procedural language), which in turn helped me when I learned javascript (which is object oriented).

**ninja9578** · 01-23-2010 06:44 AM

Just js is a very very simple object oriented language. java and C++ are insanely complex and powerful.

khh, you are refering to scripting languages, I've written 5 of them myself for various reasons. Yeah, those can be weird sometimes.

**khh** · 01-23-2010 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by ninja9578

Just js is a very very simple object oriented language. java and C++ are insanely complex and powerful.

Yeah, I know but the stuff you learn is transferable :p

Originally Posted by ninja9578

khh, you are refering to scripting languages, I've written 5 of them myself for various reasons. Yeah, those can be weird sometimes.

Aye, that's why I wrote "programming" in quotation marks.
But did you really write 5 complete scripting languages? Why on earth would you need five of them?

**Ynot** · 01-23-2010 04:00 PM

php has had a full object model since v5 (2004)
http://uk3.php.net/manual/en/oop5.intro.php

**ninja9578** · 01-23-2010 04:02 PM

Gemini BASIC - A very simple calculator BASIC language for a GUI that I wrote for a Dev Engine
Cardinal BASIC - A more advanced BASIC language for Gemini's replacement
Inspiration Script - A scripting language for a game engine that I never released

Mini MIPS - For a class in college, based on MIPS Assembly
LiveScript - Scripting language for my company's engines, I also now use it for personal project

Originally Posted by Ynot

php has had a full object model since v5 (2004)
http://uk3.php.net/manual/en/oop5.intro.php

It's still very primitive when compared to java or C++.

**Ynot** · 01-23-2010 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by ninja9578

It's still very primitive when compared to java or C++.

Oh absolutely,
I'm just saying though

(plus OOP somehow seems wrong with web development - I don't know it just doesn't feel right somehow)

**khh** · 01-23-2010 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by Ynot

(plus OOP somehow seems wrong with web development - I don't know it just doesn't feel right somehow)

But you can use php as a scripting language on your computer, though, like python or perl or whatever. It's actually surprisingly suited for it.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

Gemini BASIC - A very simple calculator BASIC language for a GUI that I wrote for a Dev Engine
Cardinal BASIC - A more advanced BASIC language for Gemini's replacement
Inspiration Script - A scripting language for a game engine that I never released

Mini MIPS - For a class in college, based on MIPS Assembly
LiveScript - Scripting language for my company's engines, I also now use it for personal project

Why so many BASIC languages? And why did you have to invent your own language each time? For some of the projects, like the game engine, wouldn't it be better to just implement LUA or something?

**ninja9578** · 01-23-2010 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by Ynot

Oh absolutely,
I'm just saying though

(plus OOP somehow seems wrong with web development - I don't know it just doesn't feel right somehow)

Not really, the DOM is object based

Originally Posted by khh

But you can use php as a scripting language on your computer, though, like python or perl or whatever. It's actually surprisingly suited for it.

Why so many BASIC languages? And why did you have to invent your own language each time? For some of the projects, like the game engine, wouldn't it be better to just implement LUA or something?

Because the first two were a long time ago when I didn't have understanding of how compilers worked.

And LiveScript is designed for graphic designers to understand, so it has to be simple and not be too "programming languagy," which python and perl are.

**slash112** · 01-23-2010 06:01 PM

Does all this shit become more clear when taught by someone in university?

I fucking hope so... or else I applied to the wrong dam course.

**ninja9578** · 01-23-2010 06:02 PM

It depends on the teacher. Some of the teachers learned C++ 15 years ago and never bothered learning the new stuff.

And yes, when you're immersed in it, it will make much more sense. C++ is a weird language compared to some of the other ones.

**slash112** · 01-23-2010 06:28 PM

Oh cool. I certainly hope it will make more sense (if I get accepted), the course looks extremely good. (Includes other things too)

**Alric** · 01-23-2010 08:03 PM

The more advanced a programming language is, the easy it is to program with it. Basically, the makers of the program already did a lot of the work for you.

However advanced programs with a lot of prebuilt commands in it, has more data that has to be read. If your not actually using all the prebuilt commands and stuff, there is wasted code, and thus the final program will run slower than if the commands weren't there.

The reason there are so many languages, is because people have difference needs. Normally its based around time. Either the time it takes to code, or how fast it will run.

If you were making a basic calculator, then speed probably isn't an issue. You would use a language with all the math commands built in already, because its silly to reinvent that code. In this case, your personal time is more valuable.

If however, you are making a really advanced game, or doing the kind of math that involves solving for pi out to a billion numbers, then you want the program to run as fast as possible.

**ninja9578** · 01-24-2010 02:58 AM

Not true. -s strips unused code, so unused parts of libraries are pulled out.

**khh** · 01-24-2010 02:59 AM

Originally Posted by ninja9578

Not true. -s strips unused code, so unused parts of libraries are pulled out.

I thought that was standard behaviour even without specifying a special parameter?

**ninja9578** · 01-24-2010 03:26 AM

Some of it is, but not all of it. Here's why. Libraries can be loaded dynamically, meaning outside programs and libraries might use functions within it, even if nothing does internally. These can't be stripped out.

Thread: Tell me about C/C++

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