Mail Archives: djgpp/1997/08/31/03:27:23
In group rec.games.programmer, Don Goddard says...
> Badman <badman AT velocity DOT net> wrote in article
> <5u1tj8$9t7 AT news DOT velocity DOT net>...
> > Personally, I think libraries suck, you are limited to what other people
> > want your data format to be and you can't learn anything worth a crap!
> > >> I dunno, can you get a job by using a library though?
> > >
> > >Of course you can get a job as a game programmer if you use librarys!
>
> Actually, it is great that you can use a library. MANY MANY MANY
> programmers hate using libraries and just bitch about them, so game
> companies LIKE the fact that you can work WITH libraries. Most companies
> get nervous when all you can do is work with your own stuff. Don't get me
> wrong though, game companies DO like that you can do something from scratch
> because it shows you know the low-level routines of the computer. Nowadays
> you'll find two types of programmers, low-level technology programmers, and
> high-level game programmers. [...]
I second that : compagnies needs many types of programmers to
form a complete team.
Using libraries isn't a 'second quality' job. But be sure to
actually know your stuff, of course! 8-)
The programmers who refuse to use libraries are more limited in
their job options and their uses in a compagny. It's important
also to see _why_ he refuses to use other people's code. I knew
a couple people (now fired) who refused basicly because they
couldn't understand or deal with other people's code, and great
programmer are not that way. On ther other side, the programmers
who have spent time writting their own engines (even if they
haven't completed it) have gain a great knowledge you can't get
otherwise. My point is that 'using libraries' or not doesn't
tell the whole story.
The bests programmer do both, but you can never master everything
(life's too short). A great OpenGL programmer is a great OpenGL
programmer, not a 'library programmer'.
And so the real question isn't really 'Library Programmer vs
None-Library Programmer'. It's 'what's special about this
programmer?'. 'What is he good at?' Just be good at
_something_ - anything!
- Raw text -