Care to elaborate on how to interprete that deep sigh? :-\
Sorry… I can see how that wasn’t clear… I was empathizing with you 
Usually I get at least a good idea of what a piece of Java code is doing when I read it, but not this time…
Hmm actually it looks quite useful, at least from the “complexity” side of things. One thing that I’ve been unable to do until recently was @annotations, on account of clinging on to Java 1.4.2 for Mac compatibility. Now I’ve finally moved to 5.0
Cas
Annotations are the greatest thing since sliced bread
This is no comment on annotations, but what exactly is so great about sliced bread?
Sliced bread itself isn’t that great. It’s the slicing that sucks. Having somebody else slicing your bread is epic.
Sliced bread lets you make sandwiches, French toast, regular toast so it basically enables you to do really cool things with other ingredients (just like annotations)
i’m a little disappointed in sliced bread, it just doesn’t stand up to a broiler like i wish it would.
I’ve written code using Java 1.5 features and targetting the 1.3 VM. The secret is -target cldc1.0
Whoa! That’s a shiny and useful gem isn’t it?
Funny, been using Java 5 for 5 years and took the ride of it’s features, like annotations, bytecode modification and other stuff… and after the years of real usage I realized how they are evil… Sadly experience is non-transferable.
BTW, using Java 5 features under older JVMs was always possible by projects such as Retroweaver and Retrotranslator and I think they’re cleaner way than the CLDC target trick. Retroweaver appeared shortly after Java 5 release and it’s availability was prerequisite for me to start using Java 5 fully. So there was really no reason for not using it all these years…
Whats the best way to learn and remember java? I am currently using bucky’s tutorials which are great but I can’t remember too much about the details on certain things. I also ordered head first java just to let you know.
As has been said before, practice and lots of it. And patience. I’ve been programming for 9 years in Java and now I’m finally able to say I’m competent.
@jezek2 I don’t like bytecode modification at all, either. Annotations can do some nifty things and are of great use with documentation. They’re not a magic bullet, but they really help enrich self-aware code.
And now comes Java 7. What will you do with its features?
I don’t know… not much in the way of new features it has that I need, except syntax niceties and faster execution.
Cas
So, originally bread was unleavened, tasty and easy to cut. Then new kinds were added that are leavened, tasty and easy to cut. The someone figured out how to make a tasteless, sponge-like and hard to cut variety. Then someone came along and figure out how to pre-slice it. And this is the peak of advancement?
WRT: bytecode modification. Heathens. Well I guess for it to be fun you need to be doing it a runtime.
I have another question about Steam. How did You get Your game there ? I mean, I have no knowledge of the process, though I’ve heard they are quite picky and what not. So, did You approach them Yourself ? They came to You ? Do You have to, like, give in on some demands ? (For example keep up the quality, sacrifice Your every first puppy … etc) I do not even know what exactly to ask.
And now, that You’ve been on Steam a bit longer, how have the sales gone ? I mean from the interest in the game point of view. I would think the throughput of the sales is a tad bigger, than before, but is it stable ? Or more like hectic, random spikes ? Or rather, no meaningful changes at all?
Had a friend already in there who recommended us. I had approached them directly before but they just said “No” without any further explanations. Once you’re in there though Valve are exceptionally easy to work with and place absolutely no restrictions on what you can do, beyond reasonable behaviour (like “don’t install malware and trojans” is about as restrictive as it gets). More than that I’m not at liberty to say.
Sales on Steam trickle away now we’re off the front page, and will plummet completely I expect once we’re off the new releases lists. Direct sales have barely been affected, and still limp along at about $100/day on average. If Steam and Puppygames sales together add up to $200/day or so we’ll be at minimum wage which will be nice but not quite nice enough
Cas
Fair enough. Thanks for the answers.