15 ms·

Does it really matter ? While I think Swift is an amazing language, it would be much less useful outside the closed ecosystem of Apple. The same thing happened

by dikei 12y ago

Does it really matter ? While I think Swift is an amazing language, it would be much less useful outside the closed ecosystem of Apple. The same thing happened to C#, it never really took off outside Windows.

topbanana 12y ago
You could share code with Android and Windows Phone targets.
bitpew 12y ago
It's true that C# is not as prevalent on non-Microsoft platforms as it is on Windows but there are a handful of mid-size to big multiplatform projects using C#. e.g. - Xamarin (multiplatform mobile apps) - Unity3d (multiplatform games) - Monogame (multiplatform games) - Unreal Engine 4 (build system) I guess Swift could fill the same gaps. I would especially love to be able to develop multiplatform mobile apps with swift since switching between ObjC and Java all the time is quite taxing.
Shebanator 12y ago
C# is extremely popular in the gaming industry.
- EpicEng 12y ago
  A small sector perhaps, but it isn't that popular if you look at the entire industry, i.e., AAA games. No one is writing CoD or Witcher in C#.
  - Vetre 12y ago
    I respectfully disagree. You can't downplay the massive indie game libraries or even AA games out there. They're not breaking records, but they make a large amount of sales. There are several massive communities that use Monogame (even still use XNA) and Unity. It's huge in the indie community, and is basically how the XB1, PS4, and Vita expect you to make games for their systems. The Vita Tool Chain is mostly C#. Sure, no one is writing AAA games that require maximum graphical capabilities in C#, those teams use C++ exclusively (often with a scripting language on top). At that point that is really the only language AAA games use if they are made from scratch, otherwise they are using an engine already made in C++. Bastion, Magika, A.R.E.S., Dust, Fez, Rogue Legacy, Reus, and Terraria are just a few made in XNA/Mono. And looking at total sales amounts, some of those games definitely had revenues over a million dollars. That's not including unity games like: Shadowrun Returns, Rust, Wasteland 2, and Hearth Stone. These games made very good amounts of money, again, not 100% AAA, but still industry veterans.
    - EpicEng 12y ago
      I suppose you're right, I shouldn't have downplayed them. I just think you need to segregate the two groups as they are almost completely different industries. To say that "C# is really popular in the video game industry" is misleading.
      - Vetre 12y ago
        I can mostly see your argument. It makes sense. The indie and AAA industry are two different beasts, but they are the same industry. It feels like one of those big business vs small business issues. If you have the man power and the resources, you can go much farther much faster. But not every starting company can afford the overhead of going full C++ and Engine heavy. So C# being 'really' popular in the AAA side of the industry is a tad misleading (though can be used as a language on top of the engine, for tools (where it is probably most used), and for tool-chain), to discount it only due to the top 33% of companies usage, is a bit unfair to the quite large and growing indie and AA crowd.
baldfat 12y ago
The reason why C# (edited out C3) didn't take off on Linux was: 1) It did take off like wildfire on Linux as Mono 2) People claimed Mono was a trap and not to use it. Because you can never trust Micro$oft 3) personally sad this happened to an open standard language

by dikei 12y ago

topbanana 12y ago

You could share code with Android and Windows Phone targets.

bitpew 12y ago

It's true that C# is not as prevalent on non-Microsoft platforms as it is on Windows but there are a handful of mid-size to big multiplatform projects using C#. e.g. - Xamarin (multiplatform mobile apps) - Unity3d (multiplatform games) - Monogame (multiplatform games) - Unreal Engine 4 (build system) I guess Swift could fill the same gaps. I would especially love to be able to develop multiplatform mobile apps with swift since switching between ObjC and Java all the time is quite taxing.

Shebanator 12y ago

C# is extremely popular in the gaming industry.

EpicEng 12y ago
A small sector perhaps, but it isn't that popular if you look at the entire industry, i.e., AAA games. No one is writing CoD or Witcher in C#.
- Vetre 12y ago
  I respectfully disagree. You can't downplay the massive indie game libraries or even AA games out there. They're not breaking records, but they make a large amount of sales. There are several massive communities that use Monogame (even still use XNA) and Unity. It's huge in the indie community, and is basically how the XB1, PS4, and Vita expect you to make games for their systems. The Vita Tool Chain is mostly C#. Sure, no one is writing AAA games that require maximum graphical capabilities in C#, those teams use C++ exclusively (often with a scripting language on top). At that point that is really the only language AAA games use if they are made from scratch, otherwise they are using an engine already made in C++. Bastion, Magika, A.R.E.S., Dust, Fez, Rogue Legacy, Reus, and Terraria are just a few made in XNA/Mono. And looking at total sales amounts, some of those games definitely had revenues over a million dollars. That's not including unity games like: Shadowrun Returns, Rust, Wasteland 2, and Hearth Stone. These games made very good amounts of money, again, not 100% AAA, but still industry veterans.
  - EpicEng 12y ago
    I suppose you're right, I shouldn't have downplayed them. I just think you need to segregate the two groups as they are almost completely different industries. To say that "C# is really popular in the video game industry" is misleading.
    - Vetre 12y ago
      I can mostly see your argument. It makes sense. The indie and AAA industry are two different beasts, but they are the same industry. It feels like one of those big business vs small business issues. If you have the man power and the resources, you can go much farther much faster. But not every starting company can afford the overhead of going full C++ and Engine heavy. So C# being 'really' popular in the AAA side of the industry is a tad misleading (though can be used as a language on top of the engine, for tools (where it is probably most used), and for tool-chain), to discount it only due to the top 33% of companies usage, is a bit unfair to the quite large and growing indie and AA crowd.

baldfat 12y ago

The reason why C# (edited out C3) didn't take off on Linux was: 1) It did take off like wildfire on Linux as Mono 2) People claimed Mono was a trap and not to use it. Because you can never trust Micro$oft 3) personally sad this happened to an open standard language