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I'm currently in year 11 and about to complete the highest level IT subject that my school offers leaving me no advanced programming courses to do next year. My question is: are there any quality online courses worth doing and which languages should i focus on learning. So far I've learnt java applet writing semi-self taught myself Android activity writing in Eclipse and tiny bits of c* and I pretty much know Gamemaker back to front.

So if i wanted to move into a career in programming for games, and such, which courses would you recommend, and which languages would you study?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ What level are we talking about. If you can name your course and institution we can recommend something that fits neatly after. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 15, 2012 at 9:22
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    \$\begingroup\$ Read the FAQ, your question is too broad and leads to discussion. You can make a game in any turing complete language, for that matter. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 15, 2012 at 11:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ The language you use is completely irrelevant, at the level of competency required for game design you should be able to learn a new language in less than a month. What actually counts is knowledge that is attained by using pretty-much any language under the sun: things like data structures, OpenGL, DirectX, having finished a game in whichever language you deem fit. Most people would say C++, but by the time you enter the industry, who knows? C# or Java or Erlang or Python or GoLang might be the defacto. Just write games in whatever language you want, learn from mistakes. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 15, 2012 at 12:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ Man, I feel dumb.... what was I doing at 11? Not programming... \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 15, 2012 at 19:27
  • \$\begingroup\$ @JTA, that's school year 11, presumably one year short of graduating - the OP's bio says they're 17... \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 15, 2012 at 20:34

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Rather than taking endless courses, you should be programming actual games - you will learn more and even half-complete prototypes will get you further in a job interview than some course credits, let alone online courses. So pick a genre you like and start developing a simple game and use Google every time you encounter a problem.

As to what language to choose, it depends wildly on several factors. Are you looking to get hired by a big game company? Are looking to go indie, developing smaller games yourself? Is the mobile market something you are interested in? AAA titles are usually C++, indies make games with just about any languages and tools, iPhone uses Objective-C and Android requires at least some Java.

You should also take a look at the Related-column on the right. Lot's of info there.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ +1 for the first paragraph, although studying computer science in a good collage will get you further than a few "half-complete prototypes", I'm sure. At least, it's useful knowledge. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 15, 2012 at 11:51

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