Author: Bob Durrett
Date: 13:21:24 11/17/02
Go up one level in this thread
On November 17, 2002 at 16:10:02, Roy Eassa wrote: >On November 16, 2002 at 12:23:49, Bob Durrett wrote: > >>On November 16, 2002 at 12:01:01, José Carlos wrote: >> >>>On November 16, 2002 at 11:45:27, Bob Durrett wrote: >>> >>>> >>>>I'm Confused. C, C++, C#. Which to Use? >>>> >>>>I have an old Visual C++ compiler which I purchased many years ago. But bulletins >>>>posted here seem to favor C, as opposed to C++ as if C is better than C++ for >>>>chess engine programming. >>>> >>>>Still trying to find the best C compiler to use for chess engine design on my >>>>Compaq 1 GHz 1GB RAM single-processor PC. >>>> >>>>Tried to download one but got error message saying NO! >>>> >>>>Yahoo! seems to find C++ compilers but not C compilers. >>>> >>>>Sorry for sounding like a child. : ( >>>> >>>>Bob D. >>> >>> Most (if not all) C++ copilers are also C compilers. Visual C++ is. >>> What languaje to choose is a matter of personal preference, because both are >>>equally good for chess programming. >> >>I wanted to be able to study Crafty and understand that Bob Hyatt programmed it >>in C and not C++. Similarly, the thesis on chess engines I'm looking at used C >>and not C++. The book I ordered on chess engines may be written in C too, I >>don't know. >> >>Well, all my gyrations are for nothing because I just looked at my bookcase at >>home and found a book [with a CD] titled "Teach Yourself C in 24 Hours" by Tony >>Zhang, SAMS Publishing, Copyright 1997. It's for Windows 95. Maybe the >>compiler on the CD will run on my Windows 98 machine. >> >>Oddly enough, the author says he compiled all the C programs using Microsoft >>Visual C++ version 1.5. Odd that he uses a Visual C++ compiler to compile a >>program written in the C language, but I guess that's what makes programming >>interesting? >> >>I guess I'll be up to speed on C in 24 hours? >> > > >It's probably not the *best* book out there, but it's also probably adequate. > >You will find that programming is incredibly time-consuming and can be very >frustrating. But it's fun when you start to create real stuff. I wouldn't >start with something so complex as Crafty -- it might make more sense to start >with a very simple and stripped-down chess program for which you can obtain >well-commented source code. (Of course, this would still be AFTER you learned >how to program and did many simple programs along the way.) > >One other thought: you could use BASIC. It's easier to learn and more oriented >towards beginners. And I think there are a least 1 or 2 chess programs written >in BASIC for which you can get the source code. Microsoft's Visual Basic is the >most popular BASIC environment, but there are others including some free ones. >Any chess program in BASIC will of course be relatively slow and thus weaker, >but your goal probably should be more oriented towards learning, and tackling C >without a teacher/mentor can be quite difficult (especially when things don't >work -- or crash -- and you don't know why). You'll still have plenty of >hurdles learning BASIC and progamming something in it! And nowadays you can do >significant projects in that language. Well, I may have an old Visual Basic compiler laying around. But, to be honest, I didn't like basic because it is too "basic." Until about twenty years ago, I did a lot of Fortran programming. I don't know if Fortran is close to C or not, but would hate to take a 1 year detour before I got into C. : ) Bob D. > > > >>Bob D. >> >>[2nd Childhood, for sure!] >> >> >>> C is conceptually easier to learn. With C++ you can write conceptually more >>>complex programs with less complexity for you. Chess is simple enough for making >>>C++ conceptual advantage not important. >>> If you don't know any of both, just chose one (I'd suggest C because I like it >>>more, but no objective reason) and learn it. Only after you know the languaje, >>>start doing chess programming. If you start too soon, you'll get confused and >>>lose motivation. >>> My 2 cents. >>> >>> José C.
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