I thought it might be interesting to see how many people watching along are already developers (professionally or not).
I'm a developer for my day job and for fun too. I even have a few things on GitHub that seem to be useful (TaskBoard is my current best project).
I've done game development for fun, including a JS engine I don't maintain anymore. I really only have one game that was ever released, and that only because it was a Ludum Dare entry.
How about everyone else?
I'm a developer for my day job and for fun too. I even have a few things on GitHub that seem to be useful (TaskBoard is my current best project).
I've done game development for fun, including a JS engine I don't maintain anymore. I really only have one game that was ever released, and that only because it was a Ludum Dare entry.
How about everyone else?
I'm also a developer professionally and for fun (GitHub), in near equal amounts of time. I don't work on any games professionally, and I'm rarely under real time constraints, so Handmade Hero is solidly outside my normal domain. I've participated in some game contests (7DRL, Ludum Dare), but those were simple games compared to this. So watching Casey has been very educational. Being a Linux guy, I've also barely used Win32, so it's been educational in that respect, too.
I'm a PhD in computer science. Whether that counts as a developer is up to you :)
One question that has been on my mind however, is how approachable this series is for people with little previous experience of programming. I'm more or less familiar with every C thingy that is being explained (but don't know anything about the low-level audio/video APIs or how to properly architecture game logic). Still, even with this "foundational" knowledge, I find the videos pretty hard to follow sometimes (Casey's just thinking faster than me).
I also wonder if there really are people who are typing the code along with the stream, as suggested by Casey at the begin of almost all videos. It would seem like a pretty amazing feat to me.
One question that has been on my mind however, is how approachable this series is for people with little previous experience of programming. I'm more or less familiar with every C thingy that is being explained (but don't know anything about the low-level audio/video APIs or how to properly architecture game logic). Still, even with this "foundational" knowledge, I find the videos pretty hard to follow sometimes (Casey's just thinking faster than me).
I also wonder if there really are people who are typing the code along with the stream, as suggested by Casey at the begin of almost all videos. It would seem like a pretty amazing feat to me.
norswap
I also wonder if there really are people who are typing the code along with the stream, as suggested by Casey at the begin of almost all videos. It would seem like a pretty amazing feat to me.
I gave this a shot for the first few episodes but quickly found that I had no chance of keeping up live. Now I just watch and jot down notes/questions, then type in the diff once the zip file gets updated. I find typing things in manually helps me study them, but I'm way too slow to do it live!
I work at a research institute with visualization which is similar to games in many ways. Used to program a lot at work but now I manage a small group so I code less these days.
There has always been a lack of quality coding resources so I applaud Caseys initiative.
Trying to get my junior coders to look at these videos, I even told them it would be ok to do so at work but they didn't want to. They seem to lack curiosity and are to firmly rooted in the ideas of OOP etc so they view Caseys things either as to easy ("I can already code") or irrelevant("why code in C when we have C++11 and patterns? What an old grumpy geezer"). Very sad :(
But: even I with at least 20 years of programming behind me find it hard to follow along at times. Sometimes it is easy and bordering to boredom, at other times he jumps around in the code, copying, removing, etc which makes it very hard to follow along. I somewhat like emacs, but the jumping around and quick keyboarding wizardry make it harder than it needs to be.
There has always been a lack of quality coding resources so I applaud Caseys initiative.
Trying to get my junior coders to look at these videos, I even told them it would be ok to do so at work but they didn't want to. They seem to lack curiosity and are to firmly rooted in the ideas of OOP etc so they view Caseys things either as to easy ("I can already code") or irrelevant("why code in C when we have C++11 and patterns? What an old grumpy geezer"). Very sad :(
But: even I with at least 20 years of programming behind me find it hard to follow along at times. Sometimes it is easy and bordering to boredom, at other times he jumps around in the code, copying, removing, etc which makes it very hard to follow along. I somewhat like emacs, but the jumping around and quick keyboarding wizardry make it harder than it needs to be.
I started programming about 30 years ago when I was 10 years old, and am now a professional software developer. If only everyone could be so lucky to take on something that they've loved for so long as a life-long career!
Even though I've been a developer for so long, I'm still learning a TON of stuff from this series. I think it would be rather naive for anyone in this field to think that they knew it all - there's always so much to learn! Having the curiosity to wonder how things work, to explore and test and try things out - I think that's what probably lured a lot of us into this field (and keeps us here!).
Even though the low-level platform coding has been interesting (I never realized audio APIs were so obtuse), I'm really looking forward to the non-platform game development. It's like pulling back the curtain on a world that I've often wondered about but never really had the time or inclination to learn about. The way that Casey is presenting it is perfect because it mirrors a lot of the thinking process, design, coding, debugging, etc. that's encountered all the time in software development.
Even though I've been a developer for so long, I'm still learning a TON of stuff from this series. I think it would be rather naive for anyone in this field to think that they knew it all - there's always so much to learn! Having the curiosity to wonder how things work, to explore and test and try things out - I think that's what probably lured a lot of us into this field (and keeps us here!).
Even though the low-level platform coding has been interesting (I never realized audio APIs were so obtuse), I'm really looking forward to the non-platform game development. It's like pulling back the curtain on a world that I've often wondered about but never really had the time or inclination to learn about. The way that Casey is presenting it is perfect because it mirrors a lot of the thinking process, design, coding, debugging, etc. that's encountered all the time in software development.
Yup. I've been in the business for over 20 years (though programming for a lot longer than that). I've worked in many, many fields: compilers, visual effects, nanotech, GIS, bioinformatics, and of course the obligatory web dev.
The one area I haven't worked in, but have always wanted to, is games.
The one area I haven't worked in, but have always wanted to, is games.
marcn
I started programming about 30 years ago when I was 10 years old, and am now a professional software developer. If only everyone could be so lucky to take on something that they've loved for so long as a life-long career!
I know exactly what you mean. I started programming when I was about 12, and knew it was what I wanted to do 'when I grow up'. Twenty-two years later (and with a completely unrelated degree - English), I've made that happen and I'm a "Senior Software Engineer" with about 7 years professional experience. It's great that I get paid to do what I would be doing anyway. ;)
It's funny though, because when we have annual reviews and they ask how I want to advance my career I can't think of anything. I just want to keep being a developer for as long as possible.
kiswa
It's funny though, because when we have annual reviews and they ask how I want to advance my career I can't think of anything. I just want to keep being a developer for as long as possible.
I hear ya. You'd be surprised how many fellow developers I've seen advance to a management role and regret it.
I started programming well over 15 years ago and have been professionally developing in the industry for the past 3 years. I have been waiting for someone like Casey to do this practically my entire adult life.
Rookie pro game dev here.
I have been professionally programming 5 years and 1 year as a game dev.
First game is coming out of the oven soon. We used Unity and to be honest I it was a love hate thing with Unity. I hate having everything dictated to me and structured in ways that i feel are not optimal for my process.
So I want to do our next next game from scratch with our own tools and if it was not for Casey I don't think I would have the confidence to even attempt it.
Meaning he is the Jedi and I am but a padawan learning the ways of the force. lol.
Through my short years of programming professionally I have had some successes and some failures and while everyones experience is different I feel that Casey's approach and mentality are in line with mine. I live in Japan and am very isolated from other devs so having him as a virtual mentor means a lot to me.
Its not just the techniques but the mentality as well as the attitude...I even started drinking almond milk sometimes :P
I have been professionally programming 5 years and 1 year as a game dev.
First game is coming out of the oven soon. We used Unity and to be honest I it was a love hate thing with Unity. I hate having everything dictated to me and structured in ways that i feel are not optimal for my process.
So I want to do our next next game from scratch with our own tools and if it was not for Casey I don't think I would have the confidence to even attempt it.
Meaning he is the Jedi and I am but a padawan learning the ways of the force. lol.
Through my short years of programming professionally I have had some successes and some failures and while everyones experience is different I feel that Casey's approach and mentality are in line with mine. I live in Japan and am very isolated from other devs so having him as a virtual mentor means a lot to me.
Its not just the techniques but the mentality as well as the attitude...I even started drinking almond milk sometimes :P
I come from mathematics, but have been being paid to program for the last year and a half - in the telecom industry. I have only minimal formal education in programming, the rest has been self-taught. I have made a few games for fun, on iOS and XNA. If I can gain enough game programming skills, and grow big enough nuts, my dream would be to be an indie game developer.
So I guess technically I'm a professional developer - though I'm actually a lousy programmer :)
So I guess technically I'm a professional developer - though I'm actually a lousy programmer :)
I'm terrible at math and had to work my ass off to keep up with you math dudes!
I've only been a professional programmer for 3 years now and am the only iOS guy for my company. I kinda wish I had Caseys scenario where you are the "dumbest" guy in the room. I think I could get so much better being in that environment, but my job is incredible and I love it. I just try to challenge myself and learn new/better things.
I've always been interested in games, mostly because you get to have feedback on most of what you do, but my "PR reason" is because they require everything to be fast/efficient. It's hard programming. Every time I tried an SDL or Cocoas2D tutorial, the engine would be outdated, or iOS would change something big.
I'm excited for the cross platform stuff, as well as the general game and advice on C/low level programming.
I've only been a professional programmer for 3 years now and am the only iOS guy for my company. I kinda wish I had Caseys scenario where you are the "dumbest" guy in the room. I think I could get so much better being in that environment, but my job is incredible and I love it. I just try to challenge myself and learn new/better things.
I've always been interested in games, mostly because you get to have feedback on most of what you do, but my "PR reason" is because they require everything to be fast/efficient. It's hard programming. Every time I tried an SDL or Cocoas2D tutorial, the engine would be outdated, or iOS would change something big.
I'm excited for the cross platform stuff, as well as the general game and advice on C/low level programming.
Edited by Jason
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