C# is a useful object oriented programming language. You can generally do the same stuff as you can in C++ but as a game modder there is 1 huge advantage C# has over C++ and that’s the way it handles include path orders, or it’s lack thereof.
I actually typed out and described a scenario where this starts messing things up but it was quite verbose. But the tl;dr is that it’s possible to get stuck in a situation where you have circular include dependencies (kind of like how circular dependencies screw you over really hard in Linux package managers sometimes). If you planned the structure of your code really really well this shouldn’t be too big of a problem but if you’re extending something that is both complicated and wasn’t meant to be extended upon, it starts becoming a problem.
C# doesn’t really have this problem because instead of including header files, it does that “using blahblahblah;” business which doesn’t run into include order problems.
C# is “open source” but it was invented by Microsoft and is hard to use without dealing with Microsoft. I don’t want to contribute to the agenda of proprietary software in any capacity so I make all my projects in C++. C++ is very powerful but for certain gaming-oriented use cases, while it is the best choice most of the time it’s not the best choice all the time.
How do I use C# in a responsible and open-source way? Do I just have to avoid using visual studio? I don’t own a single Windows or Mac computer that actually boots up. Do I avoid dotnet framework? Do I have to avoid everything dotnet? What about Net Core?
Typing g## into a terminal window isn’t a thing so what’s the FOSS way to use C#?
Technically .NET Framework is now surpassed by just .NET, which is entirely FOSS. Modern C# is virtually fully FOSS. The basic dotnet CLI is open source too, and you’ll always have mono.
Microsoft obviously isn’t making it easier. But I honestly haven’t felt the need to use Visual Studio or any of Microsoft’s proprietary tools.
With the exception of some stuff used for windows desktop development, .NET (“dotnet core” is just .NET now) is released under the MIT license. I’m not following how using .NET would be contributing to the “agenda of proprietary software”.
The dotnet cli tools that come with the SDK run just fine cross platforms without Visual Studio. Your Linux distribution probably packages the SDK already, just install and use it.
If you want, you can use C# without .NET by using Unity, mono, or maybe Godot now I think?
Your Linux distribution probably packages the SDK already, just install and use it.
The .NET SDK is still not in the Debian repositories.
C# is a superb language, it’s a shame it’s not used more often for open source projects.
The only argument people seem to have against it is that it’s maintained by Microsoft - which apparently is the worst thing imagineable. The reality is the Microsoft of today is very different to people’s pre-conceived image. They’ve done a fantastic job with C# and .NET.
.NET has the best documentation of any language I’ve worked with, it makes life so much easier.
I personally use C# via Visual Studio only so I don’t have too much experience outside of this, but I know Visual Studio Code has a C# extension and VSCodium should also work. If you are set on really not using as much of Microsoft’s products as possible, you will still have to use the dotnet sdk. From the terminal you would then call
dotnetsuch asdotnet new,dotnet build,dotnet run, etc.https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/tools/dotnet
dotnet sdk is open source -> https://github.com/dotnet/sdk
What’s your motivation for choosing C# in particular? If you want a language that performs well, handles dependencies sensibly, is more pleasant to work in than C++, but doesn’t have the Microsoftiness of C#, you might also consider Rust. I’m an experienced C#/.NET developer who just recently started experimenting with Rust, and I like it. I don’t know if it suits your use cases, but it compiles to native code and handles resources cleanly without the need for garbage collection, so it’s faster than C#. It’s less corporate-feeling too. The only non-.NET context in which I’ve used C# is Unity, but that’s far from your ideal of open source.
There used to be Mono, but Microsoft bought the developer of that (Xamarin) a few years ago. So, I don’t think, there is a non-Microsoft runtime/compiler these days…
Do you need C# for games written in C# or does it not really matter what language you use precisely?
