Guide to beginner DS programmers?

[Krisbam]

I see your point, and I'm sure you're right about most of it, but PAlib really doesn't need any former experience doing ANYTHING. All the hard stuff with allocating memory, etc. is done automatically and all you have to worry about is basic things.

All the commands are straight forward as well. To load a sprite, all you need to do is PA_CreateSprite, and to move it? You guessed it! PA_MoveSprite.
The only thing that's common with both PAlib and C++ etc. are variables, if()'s, etc. and you hardly need to learn C++ to understand how they work.


As for you, Falseblue, my only recommendation would be reading all those chapters in the tutorial I posted, and use the examples that come with PAlib.
This is another great thing with it, it comes loaded with examples on how to do anything, and if you're not yet certain how to code something you could always take a peek at how they did it in the example and perhaps "borrow" some code.

Start by installing PAlib (explained in "Day 1 - Installing and Compiling"). I learn best by trying out things, so I jumped straight to the Sprites chapter and tried out pretty much everything in it. If this is how you learn, I don't know, either way that tutorial along with the PAlib examples should be more than enough to learn PAlib (and if it isn't, PAlib has a great community with people always willing to help out a newcomer!).

[yaustar]

Variables, pointers, functions, structs, parameter passing, program structure, bit-shifting, type casting, if statements, loops, expressions.

This is just from looking at Day 4 of the tutorials. To be fair, this is covered in Day 2.

At the moment, you are asking the OP to dive in a very deep pool. The OP has no concept of the tools/applications involved nor the concept of programming which is why I suggested he/she to learn Python just to at least get comfortable with writing code, program flow and developing in general.

The problem is when following tutorials as specific as these that teach you how to use the library, you become very constrained by tutorials themselves since you are not learning to program, but learning to use the library.

This happens a lot (in the PSP community especially) where they come to the end of the tutorials and try to build something bigger then what the tutorials taught but continuously bump into problems such as "How do I do collision?", "How do I animate sprites?" or "How do I do AI?". They get so used to following tutorials to produce an effect that they don't stop and think on how to break down a problem and solve it with existing knowledge. What's worst is that they find a tutorial on let's say, collision but they can't apply it to their program because they don't bother to understand the logic and try to plant it directly in their code without considering what they need to change.

Programming is about solving problems and this is what must be learned first. The tutorials on PA_Lib (as good as they are for teaching the library) are not for teaching programming.

Edit: It even teaches bad practices:

#include <PA9.h>

// PAGfxConverter Include
#include "gfx/all_gfx.h"
#include "gfx/all_gfx.c"

Never EVER include source files. Source files are meant to be compiled and linked.

[Falseblue]

I learn through example, and the tut had none. Ill keep trying.

I understand being able to print "hello world". but then it gets complicated.

[yaustar]

Example
Example
Example
More tutorials
Free Ebook

[Falseblue]

Hmm, thanks. As soon as I get my other computer, Ill be able to code.

What can you make in python?

I am much more interested in codeing for the DS, but that will have to wait. Speaking of which, how difficult in your opinion is it to code a program where you move a dot around the screen?

[Krisbam]

how difficult in your opinion is it to code a program where you move a dot around the screen?

I'm unsure how hard/easy this is in Python, but with PAlib, on a scale from 1 - 10, that would be a 1.

It's actually the first thing I made with PAlib.

[Falseblue]

Allright. Ill keep trying with PAlib.

Can you send me the best tut for palib? Or the one you used.

[yaustar]

Hmm, thanks. As soon as I get my other computer, Ill be able to code.

What can you make in python?

Anything. Web pages, applications, games. Civilisation 4 on the PC used it for most of their gameplay logic systems.

how difficult in your opinion is it to code a program where you move a dot around the screen?

Using something like PyGame Library, very easy.

Allright. Ill keep trying with PAlib.

Can you send me the best tut for palib? Or the one you used.

He linked it in the first reply in this thread. Do you actually look at the links we post here? All the 'examples' I linked in my last post were all from the same page that I posted in my first reply.

[Krisbam]

Allright. Ill keep trying with PAlib.

Can you send me the best tut for palib? Or the one you used.

As I already said, I used the tutorial I linked to and the examples that come with PAlib (palib.info).

I agree with yaustar though, learning Python first would be a great idea, and it would certainly make everything easier. In fact, I think I might go learn Python now~

[Falseblue]

Yes, I checked all of the links. I was just wondering if you actually used something different, or there was maybe something better. I greatly appreciate your help. all I did was ask. Sorry.


As you guys recommend, I shall try to learn python. I understand some of the basic material, but I get confused with variables and such. Ill kep trying.