Hi Damien, I'm very glad to know your data recovery was a success. Being a developer I know all too well how much time and money was at stake, and that's a serious problem for any software developer. Although, I'm saddened to hear you are having so much trouble with C++. Perhaps a simpler and more useful solution for you would be to go to C ++ .Net rather than go back to VB 6 which is pretty much a dead language as far as serious software development goes. From a syntactical standpoint C++ .Net is identical to standard C++, but is much easier for a novis C++ developer as you don't have to do all the low-level programming yourself. Instead of working with pointers and memory management on your own you can use the .Net Framework's garbage collecter for all that low-level stuff. Plus picking C++ .Net or C# .Net will get you familiar with Microsoft's .Net development system which is now officially apart of the Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating environment as the future of the Windows platform. For any developer looking at Windows specific software .Net has a lot to offer in terms of ease of development and rapid deployment. The down side is that older PC's running XP etc are going to eventually fall behind and those users wil have to continue applying patches and updates to keep up with Windows 7. Plus there are security issues and other drawbacks to be considered. However, if you really can't understand standard C++ one of the .Net solutions would be a better option for your personal needs. Especially, if you plan to stop depending on legacy code and begin taking an active roll in developing new games for Windows 7 and beyond. Windows XP was released in 2001, making it an extremely old operating system, and as a result of its extremely long life cycle a lot of technologies and APIs have changed under the hood so to speak in Windows 7 which makes it a much newer and fresher operating system with its own specific programming best practices and procedures to follow. Since it is now out it only makes sense to begin migrating to Windows 7, and begin flushing out legacyy code. A case in point. When Windows XP came out DirectX 8 was considered to be the latest and greatist multimedia API for the platform. Now the XNA libraries for DirectX such as XAudio2, XInput, X3DAudio, etc have all but replaced their DirectX counterparts on Windows 7. The older libraries such as DirectPlay, DirectSound, DirectInput, etc are provided only for backwards compatibility with XP, but future development on those libs were completely frozen in 2007. Visual Basic 6, which was current in 2001, was officially dropped in 2008. Now, Windows 7 doesn't even provide legacy libraries for backwards XP support for VB, and that requires you to manually install any and all legacy libraries you need for VB 6 programs. It isn't a big deal, but the bottom line is Visual Basic 6 is ancient history. Know one knows how long these legacy applications and libraries will be unofficially supported beyond Windows 7. So again it makes sense to be looking at your alternatives closely. Maybe C++ didn't work out, but there are plenty of choices out there which might be of use to you.
HTH On Tue, 2010-01-26 at 19:54 +0000, Damien Sadler wrote: > Hi guys, > I have a few updates here. > Data death: > I am sitting here now, with a new, healthy hard drive, with all the data, > checked in by the recovery specialist about half an hour ago. Therefore data > death is data now revived. > I can now begin full support for X-Sight again, that is providing none of the > data is corrupted. I shouldn't imagine it is though, I played a full game of > the new Acefire and ran several other of my programs on it with no problems. > Additionally, I now have further methods and sources of backup storage, so > hopefully this should not happen again. > Programming progress: > After hours and months of looking at tutorials from websites, CD's etc, and > being personally tutored on the glories of C, and not getting anywhere with > it, I have decided, at least for the time being, to continue using VB, my > former development platform. This may not be a permanent arrangement, but at > least I won't be sat here bored to death while feeling like the C compiler is > practically screaming angry insults at me, I will be able to continue support > for my old titles, releasing patches, etc, and I may also be able to make a > smooth transition from VB to C/C++ without any delays when I finally grasp it. > I can understand the syntax no problem, having previously made an attempt on > writing a PHP chat system, however the complex methods of Windows > programming, such as memory management, pointers and multithreading, are all > very mixed inside my fuzzled up brain. I know their function, but can never > properly write their code or use them in the correct situations. > Therefore I have retired from this avenue, at least until I can afford more > intense personal tuition on the subject. > I hope none of you mind, and am always open for comments, suggestions, etc. > Other updates: > Now I have the correct equipment I will be doing a little bit more than my > software/game development, and that will be released and updated a lot more > frequently, but that is off topic and can be seen in more detail on the > website. > Thanks. > Regards, > Damien C. Sadler. > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
