Discussion:
XNA
(too old to reply)
Chuck B
2007-08-23 15:32:40 UTC
Permalink
I'm not clear on the purpose of XNA. Is it supposed to replace the DirectX
SDK?

Also, I'm under the impression that XNA Game Studio Express is built on top
of VS 2005 Express. Is it possible to install and run the XNA Framework from
VS 2005 Pro?
ZMan
2007-08-23 17:25:07 UTC
Permalink
Post by Chuck B
I'm not clear on the purpose of XNA. Is it supposed to replace the DirectX
SDK?
Nope.

Firstly a few clarifying points..

XNA is a 'brand' - its covers everything that MS produce that is game
developer related.
DirectX is a product from this brand
XNA Game Studio Express is another product
XNA Framework is another

Often people say XNA when they mean XNA GSE and/or XNA Framework - comes
down to bad education by MS in their marketing message.

XNA GSE - is an add-in to c# express that enables the XNA Framework which is
a managed wrapper around DirectX that runs on Windows and 360. XNA Framework
has never been officially called the Managed DirectX replacement but since
the main MDX developer now works on the XNA team and there is no longer any
MDX upgrades coming out we are all assuming that it is.

Native DirectX is still as popular and widely used as it ever was and
there's no indication of that changing.
Post by Chuck B
Also, I'm under the impression that XNA Game Studio Express is built on
top of VS 2005 Express. Is it possible to install and run the XNA
Framework from VS 2005 Pro?
Not in the current release - however the hiloday 07 release of XNA GSE will
support all flavours of visual studio, though still c# only
bm
2007-09-01 16:43:23 UTC
Permalink
XNA 1.0 (refresh) does not work with VS2005. XNA 2.0 will.
http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/archive/2007/08/13/announcing-xna-game-studio-2-0.aspx
http://creators.xna.com/
Post by ZMan
Post by Chuck B
I'm not clear on the purpose of XNA. Is it supposed to replace the
DirectX SDK?
Nope.
Firstly a few clarifying points..
XNA is a 'brand' - its covers everything that MS produce that is game
developer related.
DirectX is a product from this brand
XNA Game Studio Express is another product
XNA Framework is another
Often people say XNA when they mean XNA GSE and/or XNA Framework - comes
down to bad education by MS in their marketing message.
XNA GSE - is an add-in to c# express that enables the XNA Framework which
is a managed wrapper around DirectX that runs on Windows and 360. XNA
Framework has never been officially called the Managed DirectX replacement
but since the main MDX developer now works on the XNA team and there is no
longer any MDX upgrades coming out we are all assuming that it is.
Native DirectX is still as popular and widely used as it ever was and
there's no indication of that changing.
Post by Chuck B
Also, I'm under the impression that XNA Game Studio Express is built on
top of VS 2005 Express. Is it possible to install and run the XNA
Framework from VS 2005 Pro?
Not in the current release - however the hiloday 07 release of XNA GSE
will support all flavours of visual studio, though still c# only
Jordi Maycas
2007-09-04 14:32:42 UTC
Permalink
I'm not agree with XNA because they use C# Managed, and for games is better
C++ unmanaged. In both cases, you could use directx, and with C++... faster.
Post by bm
XNA 1.0 (refresh) does not work with VS2005. XNA 2.0 will.
http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/archive/2007/08/13/announcing-xna-game-studio-2-0.aspx
http://creators.xna.com/
Post by ZMan
Post by Chuck B
I'm not clear on the purpose of XNA. Is it supposed to replace the
DirectX SDK?
Nope.
Firstly a few clarifying points..
XNA is a 'brand' - its covers everything that MS produce that is game
developer related.
DirectX is a product from this brand
XNA Game Studio Express is another product
XNA Framework is another
Often people say XNA when they mean XNA GSE and/or XNA Framework - comes
down to bad education by MS in their marketing message.
XNA GSE - is an add-in to c# express that enables the XNA Framework which
is a managed wrapper around DirectX that runs on Windows and 360. XNA
Framework has never been officially called the Managed DirectX
replacement but since the main MDX developer now works on the XNA team
and there is no longer any MDX upgrades coming out we are all assuming
that it is.
Native DirectX is still as popular and widely used as it ever was and
there's no indication of that changing.
Post by Chuck B
Also, I'm under the impression that XNA Game Studio Express is built on
top of VS 2005 Express. Is it possible to install and run the XNA
Framework from VS 2005 Pro?
Not in the current release - however the hiloday 07 release of XNA GSE
will support all flavours of visual studio, though still c# only
bm
2007-09-09 21:20:26 UTC
Permalink
Oh I've seen this argument before. Someone always feels the prissy need to
bring it up.

C++ is faster than C#.
C is faster than C++.
Assembly is faster than C.

We don't code in assembly because it runs faster. We code in C#, because we
can get more done, more robustly, in less time. Like any new software tech,
it takes a bit of time for hardware to catch up. When it does, we'll come
up with yet a newer tech. then someone will rehash this yet again.
Post by Jordi Maycas
I'm not agree with XNA because they use C# Managed, and for games is
better C++ unmanaged. In both cases, you could use directx, and with
C++... faster.
Post by bm
XNA 1.0 (refresh) does not work with VS2005. XNA 2.0 will.
http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/archive/2007/08/13/announcing-xna-game-studio-2-0.aspx
http://creators.xna.com/
Post by ZMan
Post by Chuck B
I'm not clear on the purpose of XNA. Is it supposed to replace the
DirectX SDK?
Nope.
Firstly a few clarifying points..
XNA is a 'brand' - its covers everything that MS produce that is game
developer related.
DirectX is a product from this brand
XNA Game Studio Express is another product
XNA Framework is another
Often people say XNA when they mean XNA GSE and/or XNA Framework - comes
down to bad education by MS in their marketing message.
XNA GSE - is an add-in to c# express that enables the XNA Framework
which is a managed wrapper around DirectX that runs on Windows and 360.
XNA Framework has never been officially called the Managed DirectX
replacement but since the main MDX developer now works on the XNA team
and there is no longer any MDX upgrades coming out we are all assuming
that it is.
Native DirectX is still as popular and widely used as it ever was and
there's no indication of that changing.
Post by Chuck B
Also, I'm under the impression that XNA Game Studio Express is built on
top of VS 2005 Express. Is it possible to install and run the XNA
Framework from VS 2005 Pro?
Not in the current release - however the hiloday 07 release of XNA GSE
will support all flavours of visual studio, though still c# only
legalize+ (Richard [Microsoft Direct3D MVP])
2007-09-10 04:03:35 UTC
Permalink
[Please do not mail me a copy of your followup]
Post by bm
Oh I've seen this argument before. Someone always feels the prissy need to
bring it up.
C++ is faster than C#.
C is faster than C++.
Assembly is faster than C.
You forgot one... building my own custom hardware is faster than assembly.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html>

Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>
d***@gmail.com
2007-09-15 00:30:55 UTC
Permalink
Post by bm
Oh I've seen this argument before. Someone always feels the prissy need to
bring it up.
C++ is faster than C#.
C is faster than C++.
Assembly is faster than C.
We don't code in assembly because it runs faster. We code in C#, because we
can get more done, more robustly, in less time. Like any new software tech,
it takes a bit of time for hardware to catch up. When it does, we'll come
up with yet a newer tech. then someone will rehash this yet again.
It's not the language that's any faster, it's the amount of overhead
required to achieve the goal. If you tried to write an application
in c++ that's as robust and easy to use as C# (codewise), you would
most likely generate just as much overhead anyway. Microsoft has put
way more time, effort, and money into the .net framework than most
companies could ever dream of, and it is very well planned out and
reliable. I have seen many application written in c++ that perform
horribly due to bad programming techniques.

In my opinion, application performance really comes down to the skill
of the programmer, not the language they use. (unless you get into
pseudo languages or scripting)

Even if you are using C# and want to optimize a specific section of
code, you can use the "unsafe" keyword to get access to pointers,
manipulate memory, etc, which gives you benefits of c++ while still
using the .net framework. ("_asm" is also available for people that
really want to anger developers that inherit their project)

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