1. What are UTF16 strings?
Unicode strings that use 16 bits storage per character instead of the traditional 8 bits like ascii strings.
2. Is there a comparison of costs (in dollars) of purchasing programming languages compared to blitzmax somewhere? Is blitzmax relatively cheap? Or are those free c++ compilers a good option? This would be handy to make a chart.
No
3. Is there a comparison somehwere of the speed of blitzmax to other languages? Even if it is just a test of sprites or seomthing I just need some numbers to make a chart.
Yes, sure someone will post alink...
4. What about compilation time, is blitzmax relatively slow or fast at that?
Fast.
5. Why are special words keywords and not reserved words? Meaning is there any advantage to having it so some commands be used as a variable?
Reserved words are used internally by the language, like for while ptr chr etc. I would put keywords under the catagory of documented functions from the standard BlitzMax modules, commands that are written in BlitzMax the language that help make up BlitzMax the product.
6. What are the advantages of blitzmax over C++?
90% of C++ programmers successfully use C++ to produce spangled piles of unintelligible spaghetti, there are also many styles of C++ programming so it is often extremely difficult to feel at home in someone else's code.
7. Has anyone recorded the time it took to make a game in C++ versus the time it took to make the same game in BlitzMax? Even if its not that accurate, if someone could throw out some numbers for me that would be fine.
there are several success stories available of blitzmax projects completed in record time, bit daft to try and make direct comparisons or to infer that programming tools make any significant difference to a programmers own abilities, maybe get a C++ expert with no blitzmax skills to answer that question???
8. Is there a formal description of the language?
Not a machine readable one no, the Language section of the docs are concise and accurate and use a formal tone, wit and humour have been excluded.
9. "External language support for interfacing with C/C++/ObjectiveC or assembly code" Is that talking about DLL's? what is ObjectiveC?
Its an Apple invention, kind of like c++ but not.
10. BlitzMax is compiled, but what makes it slower than C++? Is it that C++ makes better assembly code? is it that some of blitzmax isn't actually compiled?
Is it? I hadn't noticed.
Unicode strings that use 16 bits storage per character instead of the traditional 8 bits like ascii strings.
2. Is there a comparison of costs (in dollars) of purchasing programming languages compared to blitzmax somewhere? Is blitzmax relatively cheap? Or are those free c++ compilers a good option? This would be handy to make a chart.
No
3. Is there a comparison somehwere of the speed of blitzmax to other languages? Even if it is just a test of sprites or seomthing I just need some numbers to make a chart.
Yes, sure someone will post alink...
4. What about compilation time, is blitzmax relatively slow or fast at that?
Fast.
5. Why are special words keywords and not reserved words? Meaning is there any advantage to having it so some commands be used as a variable?
Reserved words are used internally by the language, like for while ptr chr etc. I would put keywords under the catagory of documented functions from the standard BlitzMax modules, commands that are written in BlitzMax the language that help make up BlitzMax the product.
6. What are the advantages of blitzmax over C++?
90% of C++ programmers successfully use C++ to produce spangled piles of unintelligible spaghetti, there are also many styles of C++ programming so it is often extremely difficult to feel at home in someone else's code.
7. Has anyone recorded the time it took to make a game in C++ versus the time it took to make the same game in BlitzMax? Even if its not that accurate, if someone could throw out some numbers for me that would be fine.
there are several success stories available of blitzmax projects completed in record time, bit daft to try and make direct comparisons or to infer that programming tools make any significant difference to a programmers own abilities, maybe get a C++ expert with no blitzmax skills to answer that question???
8. Is there a formal description of the language?
Not a machine readable one no, the Language section of the docs are concise and accurate and use a formal tone, wit and humour have been excluded.
9. "External language support for interfacing with C/C++/ObjectiveC or assembly code" Is that talking about DLL's? what is ObjectiveC?
Its an Apple invention, kind of like c++ but not.
10. BlitzMax is compiled, but what makes it slower than C++? Is it that C++ makes better assembly code? is it that some of blitzmax isn't actually compiled?
Is it? I hadn't noticed.