I'm fairly sure it's Python.

I'm fairly sure it's Python.

tbh it's better to learn a few different languages and get some practical experience in programming

Anyway, I know parts are in Python. Maybe all of it...

Scripting is "stackless" python (stackless for reasons that might be obvious to a programmer - i.e. concurrency). Client is probably a mixture of C++ and python. Back end all I know is it's SQL server, but I expect that and the middleware are C++.

If you're going to start writing code, I would start with Java these days. Personally I started with BASIC (it was a while ago!) and then moved on to C and then C++ and then .NET. I work as a developer now and all of my stuff is either C++ or C#. For games the language of choice is C++, but of course these days a lot of games are mobile based and they are either Java (Android) or Objective-C (Apple).

I do understand that the most valued programmers tend to have 'multi-lingual' and use different languages for different context, but given I'm just trying to get going, what would be the best to start with.

Start with C++, IMO. If you can learn that and provide some practical examples, you'll probably have a good head start on learning other languages.

For a personal example, I learned BASIC and C++ back in the day, VBA and SQL professionally, then moved on to Perl, Java, and C++ (plus learning to translate C into Java, what a headache) for my own projects, now I program PHP professionally (with some confusing forays into javascript). HTML and CSS are something everyone can learn easily, so I usually ignore them in the list.

E: And now I notice someone saying start with Java, which is actually much better advice since it will help with C-style languages in the long run.

IMHO learn Java first. From a computer science student's standpoint, Java is much easier to grasp the basics on before you head to C++ where you need to deal with inconveniences like garbage collection.

Java will give you a good grasp (hopefully) on object oriented programming. From there you can learn all the stuff that C++ adds on.

They created a framework called Carbon, i dont know much about it.

Stackless python (as others have said). However, stuff that does really heavy lifting and needs to be fast (e.g. the physics engine) is coded in C or C++ if I remember correctly...

Personally, to someone that has little experience with programming, I'd suggest starting out in Visual Basic, then moving to C# and then to C++. Which is also in order of how much hand holding they do for you (regarding stuff like memory acquisition and de-acquisition)

I haven't really looked much into Python yet so I can't say much for it.

In the end you'll want C++ though, pretty much every PC/console games company uses it now a days.

Given that context, what would you guys suggest to start with? C++ or Python?

I do understand that the most valued programmers tend to have 'multi-lingual' and use different languages for different context, but given I'm just trying to get going, what would be the best to start with.

Personally, to someone that has little experience with programming, I'd suggest starting out in Visual Basic, then moving to C# and then to C++. Which is also in order of how much hand holding they do for you (regarding stuff like memory acquisition and de-acquisition)

I haven't really looked much into Python yet so I can't say much for it.

In the end you'll want C++ though, pretty much every PC/console games company uses it now a days.

Thanks for the responses folks; and no, not interested in botting ;)

Just interested in a career move. Given CCP is mostly in Iceland, not sure how that would work out, but there are a lot of great game companies out there. I'm asking around in different forums, trying to get a sense for which languages are used the sorts of fairly recent games I enjoy and would probably enjoy working on.

Sounds like C++ is quite common.

Stupid question but, why Python for EVE Online?

Artificial intelligence programming (not really graphics or UI, etc.) is what I'm most interested in. Helping design a game like ArmA or Fallout, Elder Scrolls, even Rome Total War series or something like the Civilization series would be fun.

Given that context, what would you guys suggest to start with? C++ or Python?

I do understand that the most valued programmers tend to have 'multi-lingual' and use different languages for different context, but given I'm just trying to get going, what would be the best to start with.

Somebody mentioned something called the "Hero Engine" which is evidently quite hot. But I guess that is quite new and learning it through an existing online training/certifcate organization might not be possible, thus it might not be a good engine to start with?

What languages is EVE Online programmed in?

Real men code in assembler using EDLIN

Also, Scheme > all.

If one were to pursue some training in languages applicable to AI programming in EVE Online or similar games what would guys suggest to start with?

Both the server and the client software for Eve Online are developed in Stackless Python, a variant of the Python programming language. Stackless Python allows a relatively large number of players to perform tasks without the overhead of using the call stack used in the standard Python distribution. This frees the game developers from performing some routine work and allows them to apply changes to the game universe without resetting the server.[67] However, the Eve cluster is taken offline daily for database and server maintenance.[68]

My adivce, start simple. Learn the basics and expand.

TL;DR Java is a good place to start, transitioning into C# and working with a simple framework before you dip your toe in the cool pool that is C++ and all the different libraries/frameworks there are to choose from.

1. Java
This is good start, learning materials are abundant and the language is well supported and is very common. So even knowing only this language may help you get your foot in the door somewhere, probably not a games company unless its a mobile games company. (Though: Java FX2, a simple framework can now use GPUs for example.)


2. C# (XNA Framework)
This language is very similar in syntax and ideology to Java. (With some exceptions.
It is also fairly common, and a great thing that you get with it is the XNA framework, which can be used to write games and applications for the XBOX 360 and the Windows Phone platform. The documentation is decent and there exist numerous tutorials for creating simple games. So yet another useful tool to add to the belt, writing in the XNA framework will give you insight and experience in coding for games. Having learned OOP by learning Java will help you a lot here.

3. C++
The daddy of games programming, a very powerful language but can fail drastically if you have no clue as to what you are actually writing... pointers and whatnot. With great power comes great responsibility is a term that is often repeated about C/C++. Which is why its better to fail at the easy stuff first (in Java and C# which are much more forgiving) before jumping into C++.

Games programming is much more than just knowing how to code in a specific language. Its about knowing your OOP, Math and knowing the capabilities of the library/framework you've decided to use/your employer uses. Because lets face it... you aren't going to have the skills to write a whole code library/framework yourself in the first years of learning programming.

PS.

I myself am just at the C# level, started learning programming before xmas 2011 and today I am working on improvements to my second game made in the XNA framework with C# (Which I started learning in January), a 2D Dungeon crawler. Just to give a perspective how fast its possible to learn, this next semester I will be starting on C++. Another piece of advice I've seen people give is to not only focus on OOP languages but also learn maybe one functional language, perhaps one like Haskell or APL/J.

I also suggest checking out http://projecteuler.net/ for some problems to solve with programming/maths, be warned it can be addictive. :)

Good luck on your career.

The fact that you first ask about programming languages applicable to AI worries me. If all you want to do is program AI, wouldn't you first seriously study AI? How much computer science theory are you already familiar with? . . .

Here is an extract from a famous demonstration of SHRDLU (with messages converted from their original upper case for ease of reading):

Person: Pick up a big red block.
Computer: OK.
Person: Grasp the pyramid.
Computer: I don't understand which pyramid you mean.
Person (changing their mind): Find a block which is taller than the one you are holding and put it into the box.
Computer: By "it", I assume you mean the block which is taller than the one I am holding.
Computer: OK. Person: What does the box contain?
Computer: The blue pyramid and the blue block.
Person: What is the pyramid supported by?

Because matching thousands of parens is awesome. (See also LISP.)

If you want to stay at hobbyist level starting with java/python is fine.
However if you want to become serious developer dive straight into C++.

Problem with transitioning off java to C++ is whole bunch of bad habbits, also some people mentioned lack of garbage colelction as some sort of difficult/negative thing about language.
Well thats frankly rubbish, in majority of cases you don't need to do anything special to avoid leaking memory. As long as you learn to write neat c++ code with use of stl/boost y

In this post I am going to tell you all I know about programming...so bear with me please!

It's Python.

In this post I am going to tell you all I know about programming...so bear with me please!

It's Python.

I don't mean true 'artificial intelligence' as in strong or general purpose intelligence

To start I just mean 'computerized opponents' as they exist in various computer games these days. I would assume that the 'rats' and 'sleepers' in EVE Online, and the various other types of computer opponents in contemporary computer games (e.g., the opponent soldiers in games like ArmA, Fallout or Borderlands, etc., or the opponent 'societies' in games like Civlization or Rome Total War) are just a specialized set of the rest of the game code, written in C++ or whatever that particular game is based in?

I agree with previous posters that Java (or perhaps C#, very similar) is the best place to start if you are serious. In my opinion its very useful to learn a scripting language eventually. Different languages tend to be suitable for different tasks at hand. Java, C/C++ and C# are general purpose languages suitable for virtually any task. However, there exist specialized languages (domain specific languages) for AI. I am not specialized in AI myself,Oh, like answered a ton of times before, I believe EVE is developed in Python and parts in C++ (for performance critical parts). By the way, part of Civilization is also (partly) developed in Python.

The reason to develop in Python over for example C++ is in general an economic decision. Python is considered a higher level programming language and usually it will be possible for developer to have achieve a higher productivity with Python (less lower level concerns like memory allocation, garbage collection etcetc and likely also faster bug finding and fixing). And altho C++ is faster then Python, most of the time 1) the execution time of a program often depends on whether it is programmed efficiently 2) few additional CPU cycles are most of the time magnitudes cheaper then additional brain cycles. :) so I dont have an overview of what kind of languages exist, but perhaps it is something to look into after learning your main generic language. One such language is good old PROLOG. A programming language based on pure logic and is very suitable for implementing reasoning engines for AI.

Another thing to consider is library support for your generic language of choice. For example for Java there exists JADE (Java Agent Development Engine), which is incredible powerful. JADEX, a reasoning engine that integrates with JADE. Surely for other languages similar libraries/frameworks exist.

What languages is EVE Online programmed in?

EVE Online is programmed in three languages.

The rendering engine, audio engine, browser, network layer, disk IO, database access, physics simulation and localisation engine are written in C++. Essentially all performance-critical components and access.

All database code is written in T-SQL, Microsoft's extension to SQL, since we use Microsoft SQL Server.

Everything else, in particular all game logic, is written in Stackless Python.