Gaming
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Language
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Features
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Assembly
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Potentially minimal CPU overhead
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C
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Widely known, widely portable, numerous APIs, compiles to machine code
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C++
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Object-oriented,
widely known, numerous APIs, compiles to machine code
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Java
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Object-oriented, garbage-collected,
widely portable (via a virtual machine)
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C#
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Object-oriented, garbage-collected, interfaces withMicrosoft products
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Lua,Python,JavaScript, etc.
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Familiar syntax, easily embedded in the above languages, often
used for scripting
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Swift
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Compiled object-oriented programming language created for iOS,
OS X, watchOS, tvOS and Linux development by Apple Inc.
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Lisp,Smalltalk,Ada, etc.
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Fringe game languages, although bindings to popular libraries
are common
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Once the game's initial design has been agreed upon, the development language must be decided upon. The choice depends upon many factors, such as language familiarity of the programming staff, target platforms, the execution speed requirements and the language of any game engines, APIs orlibraries being used.
For personal computers, the language selected may be little more than a matter of preference.Language bindings for popular libraries such as SDL and Allegro are widespread,and the performance gap between idiomatic code written in modern compiled languages is negligible. C++ is a popular choice, as it offers high performance, compiles directly to machine code, and allows for object-oriented practices.However, C and Java are also popular candidates.Many games are not written in one language exclusively, and may combine two or more languages; For example, Unity, a popular game engine, has different pieces written in C, C++, and C#.
For consoles, the support of the target platform is usually the most considered factor. In the past, video games for consoles were written in almost exclusively assembly due to limited resources in terms of both storage and processing speed. However, as technology has advanced, so have the options for game development on consoles. Nintendo currently advocates using the Unity framework when writing video games for the Wii U.NET languages, such as C#, have good support on Xbox (as well asMicrosoft Windows) but have limited capabilities elsewhere. The PlayStation 4's SDK is based on LLVMand Clang, and ergo, has C and C++ front-ends.
High-level scripting languages are increasingly being used as embedded extensions to the underlying game written in a different programming language such as C++, for the convenience of both the original developer and anyone who would wish to mod the game. Lua is a very popular choice, as its API is written in ANSI C and the language is designed to be embedded into other applications.Python andJavaScript are other popular alternatives. Many developers have created custom languages altogether for their games, such as id Software's QuakeC and Epic Games' UnrealScript.
Vertex and pixel shaders are increasingly used in game development as programmable GPUs have become more prevalent. This has led to the increasing use of high levelshading languages in game programming, such as nVidia's Cg, though it cannot be used for all of game logic.
For massively multiplayer online games, other factors (such as resilience of the programming language to reverse engineering, and support for multiple platforms simultaneously) are also often taken into account.
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