Why so much discussion about DirectX & C++? What about Unity or Ogre?

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C++ has made some significant changes to emerge into a widely usable language.  Microsoft’s use of XAML with C++ clearly shows the capabilities that C++ now brings to the game.  Although not as easy to use as say C# and XAML, or as popular as HTML5/JavaScript, C++ and C is still the languages that power the web, control devices and communications.

But why DirectX-C++ versus Unity or Ogre?  Well it isn’t competition, for instance Adam Tuliper, one of my teammates has made a strong commitment to using and learning about Unity.  Daniel Egan is doing massively quality work with YoYo games, and Brett Stateham is working with Contruct 2 and YoYo Games. 

I am focused on DirectX/C++, and Ogre (an open source game tool) because I work with professors and students, and the ACM accreditation requires at least some contact with the C++ language.  Especially since about 79% of all software is based on C++, and knowing C++ is more valuable in that it allows to learn the other languages rapidly.

From the site: https://www.top3world.com/must-learn-programming-languages-2013/ the top three languages are Java, C++ and C.  If you look at job openings advertised on Twitter then the list changes, but Java is on top, the C++ is after PHP, Java (Android), ObjectiveC, Ruby, JavaScript, C#,  then C++.  But if you are writing C++ you could pick up ObjectiveC pretty quick as well as C#, plus you likely either use C# or Java already. 

So why not do HTML5 and JavaScript for games?  Well, I will be showing you how to use C++ to work with HTML5 and JavaScript.  UI kinds of scripts like HTML5 and XAML should be in your toolkit as well.  To cover all of these things, game engines will drive them all.  And architecture allows you to utilize any of these tools.

So for now, I am committed to showing you how to use C++ with DirectX, in the hope of being to show you the path to the PhP, JavaScript and being prepared for the next shiny object.

Besides, my blog metrics go up every time I write something about C++ so there seems to be a lot of interest.  C++ is not the end all tool.  C++ plus HTML5 JavaScript, awesome, XAML and C++ great, C++ and WinRT tricky but scalable to many platforms.