Any opinions on C# or XNA development?

[Noct]

I'm interested in getting into some development with more 3D options then Flash. I started looking at some C++ books, as I assumed that would be the way to go, but while I was poking around I found a book on XNA development which really struck my interest. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, it is an IDE for creating Windows/Xbox360 games using C#.

I have jumped headfirst into this, but now I'm curious if this is going to be just something I do for fun, or will this actually be something usefull to me professionally?

Is C# widely used?
What is the difference between C# and C++? Is it primarily just differences in syntax?

Does anyone know if actual game studios develop using XNA/C#, or is this just for hobbiests and homebrewers?
Anyone have any thoughts?

[jsebrech]

C# is more comparable to java than to C++. And yes, it is seeing use more and more, although I have no idea whether it's used by game developers. One thing I do know is that you can't do anything wrong by learning C#, since MS is clearly aiming for it to become their core development language.

[Noct]

Yeah, I'm starting to get what you mean about it being closer to Java. The book I'm reading has been explaining a lot about the differences between Managed languages and unmanaged, which was entirely a new concept to me. I didn't realize C# was a higher level thing, I thought I was getting into the real hardcore type of assemby language here, and boy was I wrong..

From what I'm reading, C++ compiles and executes much faster, but it also seems like it takes a lot more work to get something up and running... Especially with the xna framework I am using, which essentially just gives you access to all of M$'s game classes.

I doubt after an hour or two I would have had a model on screen and responding to Gamepad inputs using C++. XNA is really pretty cool in that respect.

I'm just overwhelmed with how similar OOP languages actually are overall. Apart from VB and a little JS, this is my first attempt at really learning anything outside AS. I knew the basic concepts would transfer, but I thought I would have to wrap my head around a whole new system, and it's really not the case, it's just some minor syntax changes and a bit more work dealing with memory and loading assets.

I'm so lame, but I got such a thrill when I plugged my controller in and moved a 3D model around in my little blue window.
It was just so much more satisfying then a hello world message...
And the best part is that anything coded in XNA can be recomplied into an X360 game, you just have to pay the $100 creators fee. (yearly)

[jsebrech]

C#, AS3, JS2 and Java are all pretty comparable architecturally and syntax-wise.

It's curious to see how programming is gradually becoming more and more high-level. When VB adopted the concept of a byte-compiled language, people mocked the very idea for not being able to offer good performance. Now it's considered absolutely normal to have byte-compilation and a garbage collector.

Ofcourse, a downside to all this is that fewer and fewer people know assembly, and so don't really understand what goes on at the lowest levels of their system.

[tg]

coming from a ms background. i must say the community is pretty huge, at least way back when i was using their tools. i doubt it has shrunk much. the professional tools available for making your job easier was huge back when i worked in vb, and with .net and the interoperability of the various .net languages has likely just expanded them all.

heh. yeah.. jsebrech is right... folks used to point and laugh at us vb programmers... and now it is all seeming fairly normal.

sounds like your doing some pretty fun stuff. good luck. and have fun.