Roald Baudoux

What compiled language would you recommend to a beginner to create MaxMSP externals on MacOS X :

Also, which book(s) would you recommend (possibly in French) to learn programming in the advised language?

What compiled language would you recommend to a beginner to create MaxMSP externals on MacOS X :
- C ?
- C++ ?
- C++ with Flext?
- other ?

advice-about-programming-language-for-maxmsp-development-c-c-flext-books

this is just what i've been meaning to ask

C to start with, since most max externals you find with source code are written with C. After that it's relatively painless to move to C++ (if you need to).

Kerrnigan & Ritchie - The C programming Language is really good

http://www.olilarkin.co.uk / http://olilarkin.blogspot.com


K&R (pour les intimes) existe en français chez Dunod:

http://www.dunod.com/livre-dunod-9782100487349-le-langage-c.html

I never read this second edition and just discovered that my copy is now 20 years old...

K&R (pour les intimes) existe en français chez Dunod:
http://www.dunod.com/livre-dunod-9782100487349-le-langage-c.html

When I was first learning C, I found "Practical C Programming" by Steve Oualline to be very effective. It does enough hand-holding to be helpful, but doesn't treat you like you're clueless.

When I was first learning C, I found "Practical C Programming" by Steve Oualline to be very effective.  It does enough hand-holding to be helpful, but doesn't treat you like you're clueless.


I found this one : "Le Livre Du C Premier Langage", Claude Delannoy, Eyrolles.

what is the less painful way to move a Jitter project from C to C++ ?

You might want to consider making shaders (if what you're trying to do apply to that...). It's super fast.

I see that the question originates from experienced Max users, but just a remark for readers of the thread...

The first question before developing an external in Max is of course to look if Java/mxj is an option (or, as says EJ shaders in Jitter). Because it might be really more difficult/time consuming to develop and maintain a C external on PC and Mac.

I see that the question originates from experienced Max users, but just a remark for readers of the thread...
The first question before developing an external in Max is of course to look if Java/mxj is an option (or, as says EJ shaders in Jitter). Because it might be really more difficult/time consuming to develop and maintain a C external on PC and Mac.


Sorry, not a very useful comment, didn't see the thread was in the "dev" forum.

For what I want to do (to communicate with a GigE camera) shader or Java are not a solution...

Tim and Graham (at least) posted some examples of C++ externals (there's even one in the SDK now). It's quite straightforward AFAICT.

The example in the SDK for a general Max object that uses C++ is the 'collect' example (uses a std::vector from the library).

Similarly, there is a 'simplejit' example ( in the latest SDK @ 

https://cycling74.com/download/MaxSDK-5.1.1.zip

 ) for Jitter that uses C++ (some easy template stuff).

The SDK examples are really C-ish and just using a couple of random things from C++. The templates that Graham made for C++ really much more C++ish than these SDK examples. You should be able to search the forum to find them.

The example in the SDK for a general Max object that uses C++ is the 'collect' example (uses a std::vector from the library).  

Similarly, there is a 'simplejit' example ( in the latest SDK @ https://cycling74.com/download/MaxSDK-5.1.1.zip )  for Jitter that uses C++ (some easy template stuff).

The SDK examples are really C-ish and just using a couple of random things from C++.  The templates that Graham made for C++ really much more C++ish than these SDK examples.  You should be able to search the forum to find them.

Advice about programming language for MaxMSP development : C, C++, Flext? Books?