C++ vs C#

behram

Hello,
I was just reading the "Performance recommendations for Unity" documentation.
https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/holographic/performance_recommendations_for_unity

This got me thinking if C++ was a better language to develop for HL.
Personally I cant avoid Unity and C# but if C++ / D3D is indeed going to be critical to performance then I can hire a few C++ developers.

Thank you for your inputs.
behram

DanglingNeuron

Generally speaking, C++/DirectX will be faster performance wise , but slower productivity/development time wise ...

Faster/Slower by how much? that depends on what you are trying to do with it and how efficiently its being done.

Jarrod1937

That's the whole reason for .NET and UWP. Although performance will suffer somewhat compared to a 100% native program in C++, the productivity will suffer considering the complexity of today's games. This is the age old argument of low level versus high level code. These days though, the performance gap matters less than before as we have more hardware to throw at it. I still have to program micro controllers in C/C++ because there is no way the hardware can cope with the overhead of a managed system, modern computers can. With that said, it is not uncommon to program parts of a managed application in native code, if it is important to performance, a hybrid approach can give you the best of both worlds.

DanglingNeuron

Generally speaking, C++/DirectX will be faster performance wise , but slower productivity/development time wise ...

Faster/Slower by how much? that depends on what you are trying to do with it and how efficiently its being done.

Jerome

you compare using an optimized engine (Unity) with C# code which do the intelligence of the app with a C++ custom engine.
So for sure creating your own 3D engine in C++ will be very very long. this will takes years to have an optimized one like Unity provide it to you today.
and you still have to create your app after this.

Think about the animations, the particles, the collision etc... you'll have to create all of these elements in your engine (based on what you want to achieve for sure)

JVareck77

Also consider the fact that most of the issues using C# and Unity under a strict resource management scenario will (hopefully) be alleviated by improved IL2CPP and upgrading the .NET runtime (specifically the garbage collector)
I was intrigued by rolling my own engine until I went through a solid 3 months of architecture design and decided life was too short

behram

Thank you for weighing in everyone.
@JVareck77 good to know about IL2CPP and the .NET run-time upgrade.Thanks.
@Jerome Ok so I have to write / own a custom engine to use C++.Dead end.
Unless Unreal Engine 4 supports HL (I think they will support MagicLeap)

@DanglingNeuron got it .Thanks

b

Jarrod1937

That's the whole reason for .NET and UWP. Although performance will suffer somewhat compared to a 100% native program in C++, the productivity will suffer considering the complexity of today's games. This is the age old argument of low level versus high level code. These days though, the performance gap matters less than before as we have more hardware to throw at it. I still have to program micro controllers in C/C++ because there is no way the hardware can cope with the overhead of a managed system, modern computers can. With that said, it is not uncommon to program parts of a managed application in native code, if it is important to performance, a hybrid approach can give you the best of both worlds.