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Question about IDEs from a newb.

Started by Johnscapey Jun 12, 2011 at 10:42 PM 13 replies 3.5k views

Original Post

Jun 12, 2011 at 10:42 PM

So, first, I'm totally new to game development. Not new to the idea, however.

I'm planning on starting school for game development in the near distant future (if that made any sense at all), and I'm the type of person who likes to get a head start at everything. To that end I tried to find out what IDE we'll be using in school for the C++ courses, and of course, the admissions department didn't have that information, and they're the only ones I can contact at the moment (I'm 4 states away, so driving over and sticking my head in someones door isn't really an option). So since I can't get a head start on what I'll be doing at school, I thought I'd see if I could get a little bit of a head start on what I'll be dealing with in the industry.

I've used Code::Blocks, and Visual C++ Express, and a couple of others, and noticed that, well, while they're all using the same language, they all have their own quirks, and each take some getting accustomed to. All this leads me to what might be a silly question.

While I know that there is no standard "Yeah, everyone uses this" answer for the industry, I am curious what the most commonly used IDE in the game development industry would be. JUst so I know what I'm most likely to face when (yeah, I'm a positive thinker, when not if) I make it into the career field.

If anyone wants to share their insights with me, it would be greatly appreciated.

John

Drakonite

Jun 12, 2011 at 10:55 PM

By far the most commonly used IDE is Visual Studio. This is true for both game development and software development in general.

Some platforms will necessitate using other IDEs. For example, iPhone development requires using XCode, Android developers primarily use Eclipse, Wii development is done in Codewarrior, developing for Linux systems might mean Code::Blocks or KDevelop.

You should try to be comfortable using a range of IDEs, but Visual Studio is the most commonly used IDE in commercial development by far, and it is the one you really need to know how to use efficiently.

GDHumbleLearner

Jun 13, 2011 at 12:57 AM

What edition of visual studio is widely used in the game development industry?

Johnscapey

Jun 13, 2011 at 3:05 AM

By far the most commonly used IDE is Visual Studio. This is true for both game development and software development in general.

Some platforms will necessitate using other IDEs. For example, iPhone development requires using XCode, Android developers primarily use Eclipse, Wii development is done in Codewarrior, developing for Linux systems might mean Code::Blocks or KDevelop.

You should try to be comfortable using a range of IDEs, but Visual Studio is the most commonly used IDE in commercial development by far, and it is the one you really need to know how to use efficiently.

Thanks Drakonite!

SimonForsman

Jun 13, 2011 at 3:20 AM

What edition of visual studio is widely used in the game development industry?

The Express edition is the most widely used edition in general but the more expensive editions have some features that may improve your productivity and as such is used by most larger studios.

Its a pointless question though, you should just download the express edition and go with it, its similar enough to the professional edition that you can swap between them easily and learning how to use the added features in the professional edition only takes a few hours at most (VS 2010 professional costs around $800 , the other editions cost even more and add a whole bunch of tools for testing, bug tracking, and other things that are valuable for larger teams)

You might want to consider looking at atleast one other IDE aswell, being able to work with different tools is a good skill to have. (Personally i'm using QTCreator(Primarily for its cross platform UI Designer) and Visual Studio)

GDHumbleLearner

Jun 13, 2011 at 11:48 AM

thanks. it is not a pointless question. your answer can save me money.

ryancfcsas

Jun 13, 2011 at 12:13 PM

Visual Studio [shudder].

Seriously though, I never use Visual Studio, even on joint projects. I normally use Code::Blocks for most stuff C/C++, Eclipse for Java. In terms of college/uni, I try to get away with using Code::Blocks as much as possible. Plus, Visual Studio adds crap, like Expression Web or Dreamweaver adds crap to web pages, compared to HTML; VS requires runtime that has to be installed separately.

Education wise, Visual Studio is the standard although in my opinion it teaches bad habits, non-portable code, etc.

I only use VS if there is no other, part of assignment criteria or other programmers are just too damn stubborn.

21st Century Moose

Jun 13, 2011 at 12:51 PM

Visual Studio [shudder].

Seriously though, I never use Visual Studio, even on joint projects. I normally use Code::Blocks for most stuff C/C++, Eclipse for Java. In terms of college/uni, I try to get away with using Code::Blocks as much as possible. Plus, Visual Studio adds crap, like Expression Web or Dreamweaver adds crap to web pages, compared to HTML; VS requires runtime that has to be installed separately.

Education wise, Visual Studio is the standard although in my opinion it teaches bad habits, non-portable code, etc.

I only use VS if there is no other, part of assignment criteria or other programmers are just too damn stubborn.

ryancfcsas

Jun 13, 2011 at 1:51 PM

[quote name='Ryan Konky' timestamp='1307967218' post='4822717']
Visual Studio [shudder].

Seriously though, I never use Visual Studio, even on joint projects. I normally use Code::Blocks for most stuff C/C++, Eclipse for Java. In terms of college/uni, I try to get away with using Code::Blocks as much as possible. Plus, Visual Studio adds crap, like Expression Web or Dreamweaver adds crap to web pages, compared to HTML; VS requires runtime that has to be installed separately.

Education wise, Visual Studio is the standard although in my opinion it teaches bad habits, non-portable code, etc.

I only use VS if there is no other, part of assignment criteria or other programmers are just too damn stubborn.

Now, we all know that's just not true at all. My current project has both Visual Studio and Code::Blocks project files, has Windows and Linux builds, and the very same code compiles perfectly fine on either. No crap added, no bad habits, no non-portability. If you just don't like Visual Studio that's fine, but you should at least have a reason for not liking it that's somewhat based on reality.
[/quote]

Well, alright. But it's the VC++ Redistribute is what really puts me off. In Code::Blocks, it is not required but with VC++, it is. This means having to make the setup include and execute the VC++ Redistributable setup, which required me to learn to script it in NSIS (setup program). Itself also adds to the download size, costing me hits with my host.

I'm not a Microsoft hater, I'm an Apple hater but I would much rather see a Linux world. And VC++ can cause problems with Wine, but this only regards commercial apps I buy.

With most of the people I do joint projects with, 70-80% use Code::Blocks. The other use Visual Studio or other IDEs like Eclipse CDT or Netbeans. I know actual coders in the game programming industry who use Visual Studio for their work and Code::Blocks for their own personal projects.

SimonForsman

Jun 14, 2011 at 8:28 AM

thanks. it is not a pointless question. your answer can save me money.

You asked: "What edition of visual studio is widely used in the game development industry?".

Its pointless because you shouldn't care about what others in the industry are using, you should care about what meets your requirements and fits within your budget.
This isn't just for the IDE, other applications for things like 3d modelling and much more can be done using tools costing anything from $0 to $5000 (or even more), If you only look at what the big studios are using you'd end up paying for a whole bunch of features that you'll never use. (Pretty much all relevant skills transfer fairly effortlessly between tools)

Hodgman

Jun 14, 2011 at 8:39 AM

Well, alright. But it's the VC++ Redistribute is what really puts me off. In Code::Blocks, it is not required but with VC++, it is.

Linking against the redistributable is optional...

It's the default choice so that any security bugs in the runtime can be fixed by Windows updates, but you can instead choose to compile it into your exe.

Hinch

Jun 14, 2011 at 9:20 AM

Every game dev company I've worked at (5 so far) has used Visual Studio, even for development on (non-Microsoft) console platforms.

ryancfcsas

Jun 14, 2011 at 9:41 AM

Clearly, I have hit a nerve, when dissing VC++. Really, it's up to YOU what you use, not me or anyone else. I have used a lot of IDEs, and ended up settling on Code::Blocks, because it suits ME.

It's like buying a home, shop around to find the best one for you!

Hinch

Jun 14, 2011 at 9:49 AM

Well, in the usual case I would agree with you Ryan, except the OP stated that he wanted to get familiar with the IDE most commonly used in academia and the games industry, and I'm pretty sure that IDE is Visual Studio. You could however debate the usefulness of that approach given that most IDEs offer very similar features anyway.

ryancfcsas

Jun 14, 2011 at 11:06 AM

Well, in the usual case I would agree with you Ryan, except the OP stated that he wanted to get familiar with the IDE most commonly used in academia and the games industry, and I'm pretty sure that IDE is Visual Studio. You could however debate the usefulness of that approach given that most IDEs offer very similar features anyway.

Yep, true it is the standard, although I seem to just along fine with OpenSource stuff (OpenOffice an exception, it's terrible).

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