Is C++ still the language when entering 3D programming in 2023?

This page summarizes the projects mentioned and recommended in the original post on /r/gamedev

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  • raylib

    A simple and easy-to-use library to enjoy videogames programming

  • Raylib itself is written in C, and therefore "easiest" to work with in C. But there are bindings for over 60 languages, so take your pick.

  • UnityCsReference

    Unity C# reference source code.

  • I think if you want to get into graphics programming you do want to work with OpenGL and similar things, because at the very least you need to understand it all (and decide what parts of engines to use and what to ignore when you get to whole games). It's also worth saying that while you can only publicly get the references in Unity you do get source access at the higher subscription tiers you'd use at a game studio.

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  • wgpu

    Cross-platform, safe, pure-rust graphics api.

  • There's raw bindings, once upon a time people worked on a safe wrapper but figures that kind of thing needs to be opinionated to a degree that you can just as well write an engine, or go right ahead and implement WebGPU and have something that also runs on DirectX, Metal, etc. It's what bevy uses as backend for its default renderer.

  • rust-psp

    Rust on PSP. Panic and allocation support. Access PSP system libraries.

  • Do you know https://github.com/overdrivenpotato/rust-psp ?

  • vulkano

    Safe and rich Rust wrapper around the Vulkan API

  • Something like vulkano in Rust or zig-gamedev in zig might be a much more enjoyable approach: They're similarly bare metal languages but have a lot of advantages over C++ (borrow checker's safety, simpler syntax). However, they're not commonly used by big studios.

  • zig-gamedev

    Main monorepo for @zig-gamedev libs and example applications

  • Something like vulkano in Rust or zig-gamedev in zig might be a much more enjoyable approach: They're similarly bare metal languages but have a lot of advantages over C++ (borrow checker's safety, simpler syntax). However, they're not commonly used by big studios.

NOTE: The number of mentions on this list indicates mentions on common posts plus user suggested alternatives. Hence, a higher number means a more popular project.

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