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Sure, it's easy to download Visual Studio Express. But it's hard for a beginner to do cool things with it. .NET has a learning curve and is boring to beginners
by psyklic 18y ago
Sure, it's easy to download Visual Studio Express. But it's hard for a beginner to do cool things with it. .NET has a learning curve and is boring to beginners -- and alas, most Visual Studio stuff is based on .NET.
DirectX takes a lot of code just to get something on screen. Making a Windows forms program in C++ generates a lot of extra code that is confusing.
Back in the old days, no complicated APIs or SDKs were needed to do something exciting like graphics. Just one line of code and you could write a pixel to the screen. Nowadays, to do anything of value you need to know how to use complex APIs.
- tjr 18y agoMoreover, the threshold for what counts as "cool" and "exciting" has risen significantly. Twenty-five years ago, it was sufficiently cool to have a text-only console program. While text-only programs can still be useful today, they don't appear terribly inspiring to invite someone into programming.
- rythie 18y agoThough would a kid of today think a desktop app is cool? hard to share with friends like a website would be. The only type of cool desktop app is a 3D game and they are pretty hard to get going like you said.