Okay so I went ahead and learned most of C# Mainly because I heard you can make function calls to it from C++. I am unsure of this though. My goal with C# is to use components of the XNA engine with my own engine, mainly so I can develop for the Xbox 360. The way I plan to do this so far with what little information I have been able to find is(Taking into account I can only do stuff with processing and graphics so far): I would have a duplication of my sprite class in C#. The only difference would be that it would have special functionality to use the XNA sprite's instead sfml sprites and send the data about things like the sprites position to C++ (and when I get to sound and networking I will have to do the same thing). I am unsure of how to do this though and surfing google has not provided much incite. I have thought of maybe using lua as a middle man for this process but I am: A.) not sure lua can be used with C# and B.) not sure if that would work at all. I know I have thrown a bunch of unorganized info out there so what I am wondering is:
A.) Can I call C# functions in C++?
B.) Can I do the opposite of A?
C.) Will lua work with C# and C++ at the same time?
D.) Is this reasonable?
E.) If I am not using C++ for things like graphics and sound can I use it for the background processing on the Xbox 360?
Thank you for reading :-D
P.s I know I sometimes have a hard time getting my point across please let me know if any further explanation is needed.
"Why did we say we were going to say we were going to change the world tomorrow yesterday? Maybe you can." - Myself
A) Yes, but not on the 360
B) Yes, but not on the 360
C) Yes, because of the wrapper created by A and B
D) Absolutely not
E) No
There are some serious issues with your design. First of all, you most likely are not going to be getting either Lua or C++ running on the 360. If you had a normal .NET platform and were using "normal" C#, you would be fine to do it. Xbox 360 Development and the XNA suite literally force you to go through C# by design. You cannot invoke any external unmanaged C++ code. Lua is a completely unmanaged, unsafe, low level C library. You aren't going to get it running on the 360 (without porting it) without C++ support, which you aren't going to get. Period.
The .NET framework allows you to communicate with "unsafe" C++ code through a thin layer of wrapping called "managed C++." This managed C++ layer is essentially a layer of communication allowing you to talk to C# from C++ or C++ from C#. Unfortunately, the XNA framework on the XBox360 does NOT permit invoking unsafe code (or even any sort of non C# managed code).
Either way, I honestly have to say that this is a terrible idea regardless. C# is already a JIT compiled language running on the .NET framework. It already has plenty of overhead (garbage collection, JIT compilation, run-times, etc) as opposed to a statically compiled language. Adding ANOTHER run-time compiled/interpreted language such as Lua (which is even slower) AND the necessary bindings/wrappings to get your C++ code, your Lua code, and your C# code to talk to each other is not only going to be a nightmare resource wise, but a waste of time development wise. You'll spend more time wrapping code than actually getting anything done.
Regardless of whether it's a good idea or not, you are stuck with C# for XNA development. And honestly, developing on a platform with JIT-compilation really destroys the entire purpose of embedding a scripting language within an engine anyway.
Mainly because I heard you can make function calls to it from C++. I am unsure of this though. My goal with C# is to use components of the XNA engine with my own engine, mainly so I can develop for the Xbox 360. The way I plan to do this so far with what little information I have been able to find is(Taking into account I can only do stuff with processing and graphics so far): I would have a duplication of my sprite class in C#. The only difference would be that it would have special functionality to use the XNA sprite's instead sfml sprites and send the data about things like the sprites position to C++ (and when I get to sound and networking I will have to do the same thing). I am unsure of how to do this though and surfing google has not provided much incite. I have thought of maybe using lua as a middle man for this process but I am: A.) not sure lua can be used with C# and B.) not sure if that would work at all. I know I have thrown a bunch of unorganized info out there so what I am wondering is:
