How to learn to script

[JacobSteven]

Hi there, I thought so little that you learn to produce scripts and so over where it could be please to learn?

[Ela Talaj]

There is no such thing as "scripting". We are talking about bona fide programming and for complex projects also software engineering (these 2 things are not the same). So Computer Programming 101 is a prerequisite. Without it you are not going to produce anything more meaningful than "Hello World". Sorry to be that blunt but that's how it is.

[Rolig Loon]

You could take a free class at someplace like Builder's Brewery in world, or you could work through some tutorials in the LSL wiki, or you could visit the College of Scripting (and Music and whatever) in world, where they have 6 floors of a HUGE building full of tutorial displays, or you could collect some freebie scripts and start playing with them to see how they work.

[Innula Zenovka]

Hi, Jacob.   Builders Brewery offer frequent free inworld classes on scripting, as do several other groups.  

There's also the College of Scripting inworld, which is a bit like the Ivory Tower of Prims, in that it has a lot of self-paced interactive tutorials demonstrating what you can do with various functions.   It also has a very helpful inworld group where you can ask questions.   There's also Script Academy and Scripts, both of which are very helpful if you're learning and have a question (declaration of interest: I'm an owner of one and a moderator in another).

And, of course, there's this forum -- we're here to help with questions and suggestions for projects you're working on.   I'd suggest looking at the resources mentioned in this thread, and also looking at the resources mentioned in http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_Tutorial and, indeed, the resources and examples contained in the Wiki itself.

 

[steph Arnott]

LL ERROR! LOL. Electric sheep company did a book called  "scripting your world", I borrow it from the library so cost nothing. Search engine it and will see some pages from the book. I found it good as I knew nothing.

Wrong company, oops. I never read the intro's in books. Edited the name as i was told off, lol.

[Innula Zenovka]

I don't know if Scripting Your World was actually written by LL, though it is certainly called "the official guide".   It's rather dated now, but it's full of interesting and useful projects and walk-throughs, and I certainly think it's the best introduction available if you want to buy a book.

Their website, with lots of additional materials and examples, is at http://syw.fabulo.us/wiki/Main_Page

[Freya Mokusei]

It's a great book - a minor correction.

It's as 'official' as support documentation gets, the company was impressive. A Linden couldn't have written it more insightfully.

Electric Sheep Company worked closely with some of the largest companies ever to take Second Life seriously, and the examples and tutorials in that book demonstrate their expertise in presenting it. I have a personal copy on my bookshelf, it was valuable research during my own education.

ETA: No worries at all Steph, it's all good information. 

[steph Arnott]

I am at a lose loss, what that to do with question?

[JacobSteven]

Thank you for your advice something I just tried Slovak unfortunately I do not know much English so it will be a big problem for me: (

[Freya Mokusei]

I am yet to hear of any programming language that is not written primarily in American English.

I travelled to Germany recently to meet with software and hardware developers, they all wrote code in American, for their proprietary science work. Very interesting to watch, it must be a pretty big barrier to entry.

Best of luck, Jacob.

[JacobSteven]

Well thank you somehow fix it I guess :-/

[steph Arnott]

Jarek da Vinci (jarek.dejavu)

Čeští a slovenští skripteři

Group for all Czech and Slovak scripters, who wants to learn how to be scripting and be helping each other in their efforts.

ADDED: Whether it still going i do not know.

[JacobSteven]

thank you :smileyhappy:

[PeterCanessa Oh]

Unfortunately LSL - Linden Scripting Language, used in Second Life - is based on English and nearly all the instructions and information about it are in English.

LSL is not a difficult language to learn, by computer standards, but - as Steph will tell you - real-life language can make it a lot more difficult if you don't know how to program already.

If you don' have experience writing computer programs you might like to try Robot Emil which is a fun way for beginner's to learn programming (not LSL) and has a Slovak version - it is free for educational purposes.

@ Freya - there are quite a few non-English programming languages, although few that have ever caught-on outside their home countries. Possibly the best known is Karel, a teaching language, named after Karel Capek who introduced the word 'robot' to the world.

@ Steph - nice find, well done.

@ All - Robot Emil looks like fun! Could be a good project to recreate in SL too ;-)

 

[Yingzi Xue]

The wiki has everything you need for reference, but programming basics are what you need to learn first.  Most of the same concepts apply from one language to another.  My own personal opinion--the College of Scripting in SL is great place to learn about individual functions, but it's not a good place to start to learn how to write your own scripts or to learn the fundamentals.  I visited the College of Scripting recently and found it to be disorganized.  Anyone new to scripting would be thoroughly confused by the place and anyone with some programming experience would benefit from referencing the wiki rather than the in-world College.  I'm not trying to diminish the amount of effort that was put into the place, but I can't recommend it to someone just getting started.  As an in-world function reference, it might be useful.  Again, this is my own personal opinion.