Elysian Shadows

Hey, I have been interested in programming for a while, and purchases a book on SAM'S book "Teach Youself C++ in 24 hours). However, the problem lies in that I have a mac and the book seems to be based around windows, and about every game programming thing is windows based. So, I don't really know what to do.

Hm... try http://meandmarkpublishing.blogspot.com ... -os-x.html ?

Code should work fine as long as it's standard (IOW, in general, if it doesn't #include <windows.h> it should be fine).

I think PC's are better :D But then again mac's are good because they cant get viruses.... Good luck :D

They can too. Just no one's made a prolific mac virus yet d:
Malicious viruses developed is proportional to market share, hm?

Haha that would be hard

I doubt it would be as difficult as it would be useless. Who cares enough to put any effort towards Macintosh viruses?

Marauder wrote:Malicious viruses developed is proportional to market share, hm?

True that, the invisible hand of malicious software

NeonNinja♦ wrote:I think PC's are better :D But then again mac's are good because they cant get viruses.... Good luck :D

Mac just keeps there source codes tight...so its a smaller risk of virus...compared to not as many programs/games...I think PC + Anti-Virus owns Mac....big time...but when you start incorporating Vista in...then it starts to even out a bit...

Vista's all right I guess, but it still isn't too great.

When I started programming in HS, they had us using a Metroworks IDE, I don't know what's used now, but I remember loving Microsoft's IDE much more. We never got heavy into the MAC specifics of programming, it was all basic work that could be done on any system, just compiled differently. I know there's an old Mac game development book out there, I remember seeing it at my old college's library, though I never read it. If somebody could make a few good games on Apple products, they'd get a huge headstart compared to what's out there. Most game companies stay clear of the Macs due to their small install base, but if you make a few ports or Mac specific games and what not, you could make something happen.

NeonNinja♦ wrote:I think PC's are better :D But then again mac's are good because they cant get viruses.... Good luck :D

HUH? actually macs can get virus', can mac are really awesome development platforms.

XianForce wrote:

NeonNinja♦ wrote:I think PC's are better :D But then again mac's are good because they cant get viruses.... Good luck :D

Mac just keeps there source codes tight...so its a smaller risk of virus...compared to not as many programs/games...I think PC + Anti-Virus owns Mac....big time...but when you start incorporating Vista in...then it starts to even out a bit...

Vista's all right I guess, but it still isn't too great.

what???, mac for the most part is open source, at least the kernel. there are versions of linux that are completely open source and have way less virus' than windows. windows is just based on less secure filesystem.

PS: im not saying windows is bad. infact im on it right now and love it. do all my development in VC2008

It's all really a matter scale and market share.

Microsoft Windows is used by a relatively large share of the IT market, therefore, for some annoying teenager in their bedroom, who hates the world and wants to make as big impact as possible, will be more inclined to destroy the largest amount of machines as he/she(you never know) possibly can, therefore their natural choice would be to make viruses that messes up machines powered by windows.

Also, another factor is that there's more machines to pass on the virus, which means the viurs cannot be isolated as easily, and therefore spreads, through the use of networks.


And the final thing to take into account, and this only really counts with linux vs windows AFAIK, is the fact that windows is proprietry, therefore, there are less people, working on solutions, to combat problems with the core operating system, compared to linux which is open source. if theres a problem with linux, someone is likely to either report it, or fix it promptly, instead of wait for a company, which is probably developing an even better operating system, with even more security flaws, to fix the problem.

I could be wrong, if i've got any of this wrong, let me know, it's just how I would see it logically.

programmerinprogress wrote:It's all really a matter scale and market share.

Microsoft Windows is used by a relatively large share of the IT market, therefore, for some annoying teenager in their bedroom, who hates the world and wants to make as big impact as possible, will be more inclined to destroy the largest amount of machines as he/she(you never know) possibly can, therefore their natural choice would be to make viruses that messes up machines powered by windows.

Also, another factor is that there's more machines to pass on the virus, which means the viurs cannot be isolated as easily, and therefore spreads, through the use of networks.


And the final thing to take into account, and this only really counts with linux vs windows AFAIK, is the fact that windows is proprietry, therefore, there are less people, working on solutions, to combat problems with the core operating system, compared to linux which is open source. if theres a problem with linux, someone is likely to either report it, or fix it promptly, instead of wait for a company, which is probably developing an even better operating system, with even more security flaws, to fix the problem.

I could be wrong, if i've got any of this wrong, let me know, it's just how I would see it logically.

its good logical reasoning, but if you look at mac os version 6 i believe, was rid with virus'. and at that time they had almost no market share.

apple has quite alot of market share really. more than you might think. i think its about 20 percent now. that is significant, they are also prolific in the educational market.

its really a moot point. because if you are safe and secure with your networks you wont get any virus' when i surf the web i use a sandbox. ie, a cirtual machine, so i dont care if it gets infected i just sort through the things that are clean, then transver them, and delete the infected VM.