I have been asked all too often which programming language to learn first. And I’ve heard almost the same number of different opinions. Java or C++? Python or C#? Or maybe C? High-level programming languages like Java offer the big advantage that the entry hurdle is very low. You can quickly put together a functional application that does what it’s supposed to do. The extensive ecosystem allows you to make rapid progress and concentrate on the functionality of your software. But that’s exactly the point that advocates of programming languages like C or C++ criticize. These are generally referred to as " more difficult “, which is due to the lack of abstraction of different system concepts. The most common example is probably memory management. While in C the developer himself is responsible for the allocation and release of memory, in Java this task is abstracted from the developer. Although this is an enormous convenience for the developer in later working life, there is a lack of knowledge about what is actually happening in the background for many developers who have only worked with such languages so far. ...

With my LifeCounter app for Magic The Gathering, I released my first Android app on the Google PlayStore over two years ago. Besides my first release, this was also another milestone for me: My first real app. Over two years later, I am proud to announce a completely revamped version of the app. Several complete revisions have taken place in the meantime and I’m already planning the next one, as I admittedly tried to learn the MVP pattern with the app and now, a few months later, I’m completely dissatisfied and want to switch to MVVM. But that doesn’t really matter at the moment. ...

Gold medal at the Olympics, world record holder at the 70.3 World Championships in Roth and a world champion title at the Ironman in Kona - Jan Frodeno is a name that certainly does not only ring a bell for triathlon enthusiasts. Frodeno is celebrated by the fans like no other. But who is the athlete? Today I’m reviewing his book “Winning Matters - Success through courage and passion” and try to find an answer to this question. ...

In his biography Frank Thelen describes the various aspects of his life. From childhood, skating, the first company foundation and private debts in the millions to successful exits, everything is included. In this article you will find a summary of some important points of the book, but for more details I suggest you take a look at the book, it’s definitely worth the time. In Germany, Thelen is certainly best known for the TV show “The Lion’s Cave”, but from an entrepreneurial point of view, he’s already done a lot. In his childhood he didn’t like the monotonous, uninteresting lessons at high school and stumbled over his grandfather into the world of computers. One day he brings home a computer whose hard drive little Frank accidentally formats one night. ...

Today I want to show you how to use a 360° panorama picture as a skybox for Unity. As you may know, skyboxes are usually created from 6 images (cubemaps), with each image representing one of the sides. However, 360° photos usually use a so-called “Equirectangular” format, which looks something like this: So in order to be able to use such an image in Unity, the idea of creating a cubemap from a 360° photo is obvious. But there is an easier way, which I would like to show you now: Cubemap: I start with my image, which I import into Unity. Then I select it and change the Texture Shape property from 2D to Cube. I then save the changes by hitting Apply and then create a new material. I change the shader from default to Skybox - Cubemap and specify the image I want to use. ...