Entity Component Systems

Discussions center on Entity Component Systems (ECS), their popularity and benefits in game development for performance and architecture, comparisons to OOP, and potential applications outside gaming.

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Keywords

CPU IMHO JS GameObject UE4 OT FAQ piemaster.net OO SanderMertens ecs component entity game unity oop components games entities oriented

Sample Comments

mayoff Oct 29, 2019 View on HN

Use an Entity Component System (ECS).

k__ Feb 21, 2024 View on HN

Half-OT: Anyone tried to apply ECS in a different context than games?

kaba0 Feb 11, 2022 View on HN

Weren’t games already written with entity component systems?

gaut Jun 14, 2023 View on HN

Entity component system is popular for this

dhruvdh Apr 15, 2022 View on HN

You would probably benefit from watching a talk or two on ECS (Entity component system).

scotty79 Jun 24, 2022 View on HN

Entity-Component-System is so much nicer paradigm than any hierarchy. I wonder why it's not used much outside of gamedev.

IshKebab Jun 17, 2018 View on HN

Sounds like you discovered the Entity-Component System.

bni Jan 28, 2019 View on HN

What do the pros use? Why is ECS bad in a game/simulation type program?

flohofwoe Apr 27, 2024 View on HN

Hmm no not really in my experience. Even the old "Entities and Components" system in Unity was better, because it allowed to compose GameObject behaviour by attaching Component objects, and this system was often replicated in C++ code bases until it "evolved" into ECS.

brundolf Jan 20, 2021 View on HN

ECS, the emerging game pattern, breaks off the state-modification code as well