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I might have found a way to gear my career to playing video games!

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ids:
I didn't understand why we had to take so many math classes while studying CS.  In the 20+ years since, I've come to truly appreciate the reasons.

Also, Java is a fine starting point.  If your goals are simply to have some appreciation for programming, there's no reason to debate which is the best starter language.  C is great too, but many people get confused about scoping, include files, pointers, the linker, etc.  Java is simpler in many respects, but adds the "class" thing as a small learning hurdle.

However, wrt "people who will be designing the software" - that's a whole other thing.  Design and programming are different disciplines.  You may get a taste for what programming is about, but without a few good years of doing nothing but programming, design ideas could be difficult to ponder at times.

RayB:

--- Quote from: shateredsoul on December 17, 2010, 02:18:24 am ---what about programming in video games? how math and physics heavy is that?

Remember, i'm not trying to get a job in programming (read above).

--- End quote ---
Back on topic, your question is so vague.  You don't just "program a game" and have to do everything. You can use pre-made engines in which case you wouldnt need to know the physics and advanced maths. Games typically have huge teams and "programming" is divided up into very specific specialties.

shateredsoul:

--- Quote from: RayB on December 17, 2010, 05:15:02 pm ---
--- Quote from: shateredsoul on December 17, 2010, 02:18:24 am ---what about programming in video games? how math and physics heavy is that?

Remember, i'm not trying to get a job in programming (read above).

--- End quote ---
Back on topic, your question is so vague.  You don't just "program a game" and have to do everything. You can use pre-made engines in which case you wouldnt need to know the physics and advanced maths. Games typically have huge teams and "programming" is divided up into very specific specialties.


--- End quote ---

So it may be helpful if I provide some more background.

So the kids will probably be working with something like Kodu, a program that teaches basic concepts in coding. The idea is to get kids familiar early on so that we can encourage them to consider this as a career and explore the best ways to teach these concepts.



I should know how to read code, and know some basic stuff, but not necessarily be able to program on my own. It's a collaborations with the computer science department, so we have people who have a deep knowledge of this stuffy. I bring learning theory to the table and my experience in working with behavioral studies (i.e. looking at kids, what they do, coding it, analyzing the data, making comparison's between teaching methods etc. etc.) I'd like to know enough coding so that I know what computer science people can do, so I can talk to them, so that I know the limitations, and so I at least know what the kids should be learning (and preferably a little bit more advanced than what the kids will ever learn).

Kodu for example focuses on things such as, If x happens then y, and some programmable AI was integrated into the version I saw but the kids didn't really use that feature. They mostly made coin collecting games. Only a few kids made innovative games exploring types of play not normally focused on, such as emotions (i.e. giving a heart to another friend, resulting in a stronger relationship between the figures), everyone else made pacman/mario coin collecting games.

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