Why Learning C Is My First Step Toward Becoming a Game Engine Programmer
Source: Dev.to
Introduction
Hi there! Happy new year 🥳🎉🎊
My name is Victor Rosario. I’m originally a web developer, working with technologies like Next.js, FastAPI, Express.js, and Nest.js.
Discovering Game Engine Development
While browsing YouTube I discovered The Cherno channel and started watching his Game Engine (Hazel) playlist. Seeing how engines such as Unity, Unreal, and Godot work under the hood sparked a huge wave of excitement. At the same time, I felt completely lost when looking at real engine code—I couldn’t understand anything. That confusion made me realize I was missing the fundamentals.
Why Learning C First?
After researching and talking with friends who work closer to low‑level systems, I reached a clear conclusion:
My first real step must be learning the C language.
If I deeply understand C, then learning C++—with all its extra features—will become much easier and more natural.
Learning Resources
To reinforce this path I started reading the book “Build Your Own Lisp”, which I think is fantastic. It doesn’t just teach syntax; it forces you to think about memory, data structures, and low‑level concepts.
Current Progress
At the moment of writing this post I’m on Chapter 9: “Reading Expressions”. This blog series is my way of documenting this learning adventure.
Goals
My main goal right now is to strengthen my C knowledge by building small projects that help me truly understand:
- How memory works
- How to allocate and deallocate memory
- How to properly use and master pointers
This is just the beginning, but it feels like the right foundation for my long‑term goal: becoming a Game Engine Programmer.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading 😁