Author: Roberto Waldteufel
Date: 09:52:59 04/19/99
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On April 19, 1999 at 11:53:51, James Robertson wrote: >On April 18, 1999 at 03:16:23, Anatoli wrote: > >>Dear Friends ! >>I want to start to learn a computer programming language. I can't do it full >>time because I am very busy at my work. I have a dream to write a new chess >>program in future. So, I met my friends and asked what sort of language they >>would recommend. >>As you can guess they sent me in different directions ! I found a book in >>the local library "Visual Basic 4 for windows for dummies". Of course it is >>quite old book because the latest version of Basic is 6. I started to read >>it every evening and found it very interesting and simple for my >>understanding (my native language is Russian). And the author give a good >>hint. He writes if speed crucial, Visual Basic is not a wise choice. And he >>recommends C++ or Delphi. I heard about these languages from my friends and >>one of them strongly recommended Delphi. So, do you know which sort of >>languages did use the authors of the famous chess programs like Fritz, >>Crafty, Junior, Nimzo, e.t.c ? What language will you recommend for me to >>learn ? I prefer to work with books alone then attend courses. Which books >>would you recommend ? Maybe I will use the knowledge of this language to >>change my future career. >>Best wishes >>Anatoli > >I agree with everyone else: use C, and/or C++. Regardless of what people say, >until you get to pointers and some aspects of arrays, C is actually simpler than >Basic, and a lot simpler if you factor in the wierd nonsensical quirks of >VBasic. Also, C uses many fewer English words than VB, so it will be easier to >understand. But your English sounds fine, so you would have no trouble with it >anyway. :) > >For the languages used by programs: >Fritz is written in assembler, only something a lunatic would do. >Crafty is written in C. >Junior is written in C (maybe C++). >I don't know about Nimzo, but I stronly suspect it is a C/C++ program too. > >Hope this helps! >James I must disagree with you. Firstly, speed is critical for chess. How to get maximum speed? - use hand-optimized assembler. That is NOT lunacy, it is plain common sense. It might be difficult, but if the results are better it certainly does not make it mad. Much of my program is written in assembler, so I shall be expecting a visit from the men in the long white coats soon! Second, Visual Basic is more than 20 times slower than the best commercial Basic compilers - if you are going to talk about Basic, at least see what a modern efficient (as opposed to virtual anything!) Basic compiler can do. There are Basic compilers now that will compile small, fast executables to run under Win9x and Win NT, and they include a full 32-bit in-line assembler as well - blows the wheels of Visul C, and C++. Roberto
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