Not Learning C# (I gave up)

I have had this C# book sitting next to me for the last few weeks and I haven't read any of it. The only reason why I want to learn C# is not because I want to learn C#, but because I want to use the XNA Framework. Last week I herd some rumblings that VB is coming to XNA and that the XNA Team chose C# has their initial supported language because of it's potential commercial adoption rate and the design changes that would need to be worked out in order to achieve C#'s unmanaged data types. I might still learn C# in the future or read the first two chapters of this book out of interest, but I am just not interested in writing programs in C#. I write code much slower in C# and not just because I am new to the language, the code doesn't flow from my hands to the screen like I would want it to. And that is mainly because of the weaker Intellisense support, poor code auto-formatting, curly braces and explicit data conversion.

So anyway this is a trait of mine that shows I am very selfish with my learning because unless I can actually use and see applications of me using something, I won't learn it. Another example of this is that I don't know how to connect to a database because I find storing data in text files to be sufficient. So sorry C# lovers, but i find VB to me more than sufficient for anything I wish to write today, tomorrow and probably for many years to come.

Skillz Hitch

Been trying to learn XNA, don't know C# too well, tried learning it quickly at a higher level, found stupid things that I don't get right because I don't understand some basic stuff. So it looks like it could be a few weeks before I will have a crack at XNA again and actually get something working as my working knowledge of C# programming is ass and I can barely make anything. Need to find a job too, will phone somebody Monday about that as my desire to see my 360 games in HD just won't relinquish.

XNA , Working Hard and Jesus

On one hand I am very pleased with XNA because it removes all the plumming that I stumbled on when I last tried to learn Managed DirectX. However the documentation is weak and I am frustrated at how little I am grasping. This is normal whenever I try to learn something new so proably isn't such a negative comment.

I still have some in-roads to understanding the structure, but I would do better with more C# exsperiance. I can read the code, but formulating my own is a little tricky because I have only just learned C#.

Nobody ever mastered anything in a day so it's just something I have to stick at. And that got me thinking nobody talks about wither Jesus was a good carpentor or no. He seemed to spend most of his life walking around the holy-land and there isn't any mention of his carpentory in the bible or any pices still in exsistance. So he couldn't have been that good. Maybe if he had applied himself a little more he could have produced some great works like Chippendale.

Learning C#

Have started learning C# so that hopefully by the 30th I can do some stuff in XNA. I don't expect by then to be as good in C# as I am in VB and I have no idea what new paradigms I will need to learn to use XNA, but by the time the Beta comes out I should be able to explore it a little. Maybe even complete the tutorials that come in the documentation, if any.

For learning C# I have bought Inside C# which assumes the reader can already program some C, C++ or Java. I can't so have started off with some beginner videos over at LearnVisualStudio.net and I completely forgot how good that site is. I started off by doing a console application and I then realised that I haven't ever done a .Net console application before because in VB you traditionally start by programming forms.

It's going to get some getting used to, but I think I might like C# a lot.

XNA and C#

I have been reading the XNA Express FAQ and it appears that XNA is a copy of the .Net Compact Framework which was originally made for use on PDA and other portable devices that run off of battery. The team has taken that version of the .Net Framework and added a few features to support stuff like 3D Acceleration and other stuff associated with games. As of right now the team only has a C# compiler for the XNA Framework so the coming express edition will only support C#, however they are considering supporting other languages and it is very likely that someone other than Microsoft could write a compiler to support other languages.

This means of course that within a week I will be steeped into learning C# as the only reason I got into computers to begin with was because of video games and I have repeatedly tried and failed to learn to program 3D games using DirectX.
Interestingly is that because XNA is built on the Compact Framework, supporting Mobile phones would be very easy if they started to use 3D chips in them.

If you are a developer and want to get into Beta 1, send me an email and I will tell you where you can signup. I would link here, but there is probably only going to be a limited number of slots for Beta 1 and that shouldn't be filled up with people who will just download the application and then never use it.