whyterabbyt wrote: ↑Sat Sep 21, 2019 9:27 amSorry. A compiler turns the human-readable-language 'source' code into machine-runnable 'executable' code.parricide wrote: ↑Sat Sep 21, 2019 9:04 amsorry for my ignorance, but i dont really know what those things are. i hear words thrown around but i dont really know what they mean. for example, i know i need a compiler, but i dont really know what a compiler does exactly (i assume it takes the code and turns it into an executable file or DLL etc?)
An IDE is an 'integrated development environment'. Generally, you also want a text editor for that source code, (and that can include one which 'understands' your source code to a certain extent to help with certain editing task), a debugger (which lets you interact with running machine code and relate that back to the source code) and a mechanism for compiling and linking multiple source code and library files. These can be separate tools, but an IDE integrates them.
Sort of. In the case of VST plugins its sort of a package of some prewritten definition code that you can access from your own code and almost a set of 'templates' that you have to 'fill in' with your own code.things like SDKs too. i dont really understand what it is and what it is needed for etc (i assume this is a set of commands that are installed into the language that allow you to write scripts and get results you otherwise wouldnt be able to?)
Since you cant make something into a VST unless it has the functionality that defines what a VST has to do, the templates effectively provide the starting point of a VST that does nothing, and you modify that to do something.
The VST SDK is very bare-bones, it only really covers the data transfer between the host and the plugin; it has no user interface code for example.
So there are also third-party SDKs which sit 'on top' of VST, like JUCE and WDL, that provide a lot more prewritten functionality, especially UI stuff, and which can also sit on top of other audio plugin type consistently thus making it easier to develop cross-platform plugins.
thank you so much for your help <3
that makes a lot more sense now
as well as the tutorial mentioned above i also found a video series that seems to be quite good for somebody at my stage, but it is 11 years old.
would this still be okay to follow today? or would it cause more confusion because of changes?
obviously the tools would be newer than the ones used in the video (eg it uses visual C++ 2008, but i would be using your recommendation of the current visual studio), but i would assume it would be similar enough to still use today?
thanks