Author: Frank Schneider
Date: 00:38:33 01/04/99
Go up one level in this thread
On January 03, 1999 at 23:48:08, KarinsDad wrote: >On January 03, 1999 at 15:52:45, Greg Lazarou wrote: > >>On January 03, 1999 at 15:08:09, Ralph E. Carter wrote: >> >>>This is a current events question. >>> >>>I might begin studying programming again. >>>Is one of these languages more "topical" or "influencial", >>>and a wiser choice for future employability? >>> >>>Does MS Visual Basic have libraries of gadgets that >>>ease construction of Windows interfaces? >>>Does MS Visual C++ have these libraries too? >>> >>>I don't want to confuse myself, by writing chess routines >>>in C, then building GUIs with "Basic". >>> >>>I have 1.5 years of Pascal, and home-study of C++. >>> >>>Thank you. >>>mongrel >> >>Well, my humble oppinion is that if you are going to write an engine for chess, >>Visual C++ is a better choice than VB - mainly because you want speed and >>performance (VB I think is also compiled but its p-code can't be as fast as >>native code). >> >>For a UI, the choice is not as obvious but I'd recommend that you separate the >>UI from the engine totally using the Winboard/Xboard protocol (basically >>standard input and output), so that you can use Winboard as your UI, or the >>Fritz UI etc. This way also you'll maintain total freedom in selecting the tool >>of your choice for the UI. >> >>Have fun >> >>Greg Lazarou > >My advice is based on your level of programming experience. Visual Basic is >easier to write and has fewer configuration programs then Visual C++ (which you >can handle once you are familiar with C++). It also uses the C++ back end >compiler, so for all intents and purposes, it's just as fast (with a few minor >exceptions, most of which can be worked around once you know what you are >doing). So if you are a novice programmer, Visual Basic is easier to learn and >use. > >However, if you have been programming for a while, Visual C++ has all of the >features of Visual Basic (including Microsoft and 3rd party classes and objects, >but I wouldn't suggest using them much in a chess program) plus pointers (which >for a chess program are almost required). Both of these languages will enable >you to write a fairly good chess program, however, if you are thinking that you >want your program to compete with the big boys, you should probably use C++ (but >don't use classes much if at all) since it will be easier to optimize in the >long run. > >I agree with Greg as far as the UI goes. If you use C++, create yourself a >console application and don't waste your time re-inventing the wheel (i.e. the >GUI) until you find you have extra time on your hands. Yes, I agree that writing a chessgui would be re-inventing the wheel, but writing a chessengine is also re-inventing the wheel. Since there are more than 20 engines and only one WinBoard I'd think it would be better to write a WinBoard-compatible GUI than to write the 21st engine. > >As far as employability, it's anyone's guess. I've gotten jobs using both >languages. Maybe you should study both (and Java, and ...). And of course Java would be a nice language to write a GUI, because it is portable. > >Good luck with your chess programming endeavors, > >KarinsDad Frank
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