That will not help so you basically have none.
I don't think thats completely true, depending on how he went/learned about it.. If he learned the syntax and manually did most of the work, or at least when he was learning it. then it proves he has the ability to do what most average non computer junkies don't have the patience to do. If he did/learned it tho mostly threw apps that do most of the work for you, then yeah lol
I think that is a general given. . . however not all Compilers and IDE's are created equal, thats why they are not all free. And i believe Not all of the libraries for compiling for some proprietary platforms would be free. . . So yea mostly free, but not actually 100percent of the time.
Programming rule 1#, plan. There is a lot more to crating an emulator then just coding...
I Didn't know you could code at all withOUT a plan, well i guess thats not true otherwise win8 would of never existed lol.
DISCLAIMER - I don't have the experience your looking for but I looked into and learn the basics b4, didn't have the motivation/time to go farther. So i may not know the exact detail, but i think otheres will agree what i may state will be logicaly true.
to get out of the way first. . . when your start learning, not instructed by someone experienced, The info on the web for coding is like everything else, a lot of wrong info mixed in, except in reliable sources ofcourse. . also a lot of different styles/opinions, just because someone formats there code a certain style doesnt mean it needs to be, I had to re-write stuff to make it readable for myself especially when first learning. And just for example creating a dynamic table in excel so it would be easyer to see/learn bitwise manipulation, instead of memorizing all the bites lol. The sources i saw 4it explained stuff properly but don't take into consideration that learners maynot have that stuff memorized, so its not practial unless you draw out the table. I think a good site that at least explained the basics correctly was
www.cprogramming.com
I heard similar things about C/C++. I also heard someone state at some point that, you can do nearly everything other languages can do with just C however it will take you longer, the exception to that mayb 3D apps like games which benefit or require ObjectOriented programming.
Due to my inexperience I don't know if this is 100% true, but maybe cause, theres a lot of coding you can do simply by prebuilt function calls from the libraries, however they don't need to be. The functions can be manually coded in/macroed. And those who don't learn how the function works within reasonable extent, Is perhaps part of why some apps just don't work as well, due to missuse/abuse of call functions, tho I can probably imagine most peoples philosophy who do are going under the "why reinvent the wheel" saying. That is true, but everything In moderation, its not as simple as rolling a wheel down a hill. May also be part of the reason some apps require specific runtime versions installed before it can exacute correctly. That just pisses me off personally LoL, but that maybe just me.
I think but might not be true - If an app does not need to be coded in another language for some specific reason, I believe it will probably run more efficent and more potable in general and between platforms if its just C. . . However as said that probably takes Longer and requires perhaps more understanding of the concepts of some of the prebuilt call functions of other languages. I'm not saying there all lazy, but u know a lot of people must be lol