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  Panda3D Manual: A Panda "Hello World" using CXX
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Recommendation: Use Python

Caution: we do not recommend writing Panda3D programs in 100% C++. Instead, we suggest writing your programs in mostly-python, with a little C++ here and there. The reasons we suggest this are:

First, because we've tried it very successfully. Both Disney and Carnegie-Mellon have been creating applications in python with excellent results. All the commercial Disney games that use Panda3D are written in mostly-python. It is very easy to attain excellent performance using mostly-python, and the development is a lot quicker and easier than using C++.

Second, there are parts of Panda3D that are written in python. These are not the speed-critical parts. For instance, the scene graph browser is written in python. The heads-up-display code is in python. If you reject python entirely, you lose access to a lot of important functionality.

Third, the entire Panda3D manual is in python. Also, all the sample programs are in python. It is much harder to learn Panda3D if you try to translate the manual from python to C++ at the same time as you're trying to learn Panda3D.

So, You're Determined to Use C++

Ah well, we tried to talk you out of it, but you're determined...

This tutorial is called "A Panda Hello World." It is a typical example of a simple Panda3D program. Walking through this tutorial will enable you to obtain some limited familiarity with the Panda3D API, without having to learn the entire thing.

The program that we are going to create will load up a small scene containing some grass and a panda. The panda will be animated to walk back and forth over the grass.

Note: This tutorial is intended for C++ usage only. For the Python equivalent of this tutorial, click here.

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