One of the things that C++ doesn’t have out-of-the-box is events, which is not necessarily a bad thing. However, with the additions to the C++0x/C++11 specification, we can implement something like an event system found in higher level languages such as C# using relatively easy to use code.
Just launched OpenGLBook.com, a website on learning OpenGL 4.0 programming in online book format. The first two chapters are online, new chapters to be released periodically.
John Carmack, of DOOM, Wolfenstein, and Quake fame, has spoken out on the issue of Direct3D vs OpenGL in an interview with the folks at bit-tech. Check out the article here. Note that Carmack is still using OpenGL in his game engines because of cross-platform compatibility reasons, but prefers Direct3D’s more modern API.
It’s sad to see OpenGL in such a state of disrepair that even a contributor (id Software) to the specification denounces the standard.
P.S. Happy π day.
More news from this year’s Game Developers Conference shows some amazing next-gen graphics from Epic Games through their Unreal Engine. It’s certainly worth checking out the article at Tom’s Hardware right here.
The Khronos group has released the final WebGL 1.0 specification today at the Game Developers Conference, here are the relevant links to check out:
As of March 3, 2011 2:45PM, the online specification has not yet been updated to reflect the final changes (still says “draft”).
It’s almost weekend, and time for a lighthearted post on the two realtime 3D computer graphics libraries that are available on Windows in 2011: OpenGL and Direct3D. The reason I mention the year is simply because of the fact that two years from now, this information will be as untrue as the Wikipedia article* on this matter due to rapid hardware and software developments. But for now, let’s bash it out.
You’ve heard of Intel’s recent “Cougar Point” chipset screwup causing all motherboards for Sandy Bridge-based Core i7 processors to be pulled from the market until next month when new parts will appear. We’ve also all read the reviews that show the new i7 processors to be very fast and beating AMD’s current lineup in terms of performance. So where does AMD stand?
My dearest VB.NET programmers (and C# programmers up to a point), I once again have to inform you of one of my pet peeves. This is pretty much a follow-up to one of my previous posts, but more than two years after, I still work in projects from various online sources as well as professionally that are littered with the warnings about undefined variables:
| Operation | Sample | C Operator |
|---|---|---|
| AND | 1001 AND 0101 = 0001 |
& (ampersand) |
| OR | 1001 OR 0101 = 1101 |
| (pipe) |
| NOT | NOT 1001 = 0110 |
~ (tilde) |
| XOR | 1001 XOR 1011 = 0010 |
^ (caret) |
| LEFT-SHIFT | LEFT-SHIFT 0001 BY 1 = 0010 | << |
| RIGHT-SHIFT | RIGHT-SHIFT 1000 BY 1 = 0100 | >> |
| Operation | Syntax | Short For |
|---|---|---|
| AND | X &= Y; |
X = X & Y; |
| OR | X |= Y; |
X = X | Y; |
| XOR | X ^= Y; |
X = X ^ Y; |
| LEFT-SHIFT | X <<= Y; |
X = X << Y; |
| RIGHT-SHIFT | X >>= Y; |
X = X >> Y; |
If you work in a source controlled environment, these are the minimal guidelines that you’ll have to stick to for making your teammates’ lives a bit easier.
Share any tips you may have!
If you ask a programmer which programming language you should learn as your first, they’ll often prescribe you their personal favorite, often not considering if the language is supported on multiple platforms, easy to learn, exposing underlying system mechanics, and fully featured.
This post is the first of a series of tutorials intended to teach you the C programming language, an excellent first language because of the following reasons:
Microsoft confirmed today at the 2011 CES that the next generation of the Windows operating system will indeed run on ARM processors, following wild rumors and speculation this past week.
Windows on ARM processors means that the operating system is now capable of running on a plethora of mobile devices, thus opening up an entirely new market segment for Microsoft. Is this the end of Windows Phone? Will Windows 8 be the new Microsoft mobile OS?
EDIT (01/06): Not much more info was released in last night’s keynote speech by Steve Ballmer. However, the implications of having the full-fledged Windows operating system on a mobile device such as a phone are tremendous. Android and iOS will have to pick up some speed to compete with the OS that has been in the making since 1985 and has excellent hardware and software support e.g.: multi-threading, scheduling, peripheral support, .NET Framework, WPF, Win32 API, etc., etc.