Hello, you’re now reading the first part (there’s ten parts) of my column ‘Genius Solutions’. These ten articles will all be published at ‘http://gmtutorials.com’!

The gamemaker database already contain a lot of content about GML programming, however, my articles aren’t about GML programming only! It’s about all programming, it’s about the philosophy of programming, it’s about how to think to be a successful programmer… It’s all about how to solve problems.

Maybe the biggest difference between a ‘normal’ and a ‘good’ programmer is the ability to solve problems. A lot of people say it depends on the GML skills. I don’t agree with that – everything doesn’t boil down to the knowledge about a specific programming language. It’s also a lot about creativity, general knowledge and the ability to find solutions.

And that’s what my articles are all about, how to become a better programmer in general. Phil Hellmuth (a famous poker player) wrote a book “Play Poker like the Pros”, this would be the same thing for a programmer: “Solve problems like a Pro”, or maybe “Program like a Pro”.

For example, I’d say that about 60-75% of the GMC members (http://forums.gamemaker.nl) don’t understand programming. Hey! I’m not saying they are bad at GML, I’m not saying they can’t create great stuff! I’m just saying they don’t understand the art of programming.

It took me a while to understand too… But for you who read this, if you don’t understand it yet, you’ll understand it after reading my articles. And if you already understand it, you’ll understand it even better.

I’ll start right here by telling you one of the keys to programming:

It’s not how good the code ‘look’, it’s about whether it works or not that matters.


Thanks for reading,
Victor