Where do I learn to script in secondlife?

[WanderleiMMA]

I want to learn how to scrip explosive bomb attacks.

[Madelaine McMasters]

Hi Wanderlie,

There are numerous scripting classes available in Second Life. Here's a short, incomplete, list...

• Builders Brewery
• Caledon Oxbridge University
• Helping Haven
• NCI

Good luck!

[Rolig Loon]

Maddy gave you a good list of places to take LSL scripting classes.  If you talk to other scripters, though, you'll find that most are self-taught.  Many have prior experience with other computer languages, but quite a few start with LSL as their first language.  If you are reasonably smart and can organize thoughts logically, you should be able to write simple scripts in a weekend.

You'll find tutorials for the basics at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_Tutorial and the primary source for information about language syntax is the LSL wiki, at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_Portal .  Most scripters keep the wiki open in the background as they work, because few of us remember the detailed syntax of every single function we end up using.

You can write scripts in world with the native LSL editor that's in your viewer, but you may find that its error messages are less than truly helpful.  Also, SL has a nasty habit of losing unsaved work --- usually just after you have spent a half hour writing a new, brilliant patch into your code.  Using an external editor not only gives you better error messages but it lets you save work reliably on your own hard drive.  You'll find external editors here >>> http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_Portal  Everyone has a personal favorite.

The bottom line is that you are most likely to learn LSL fast if you just DO it.  Get a few of the basics under your belt and then start writing scripts.  Find full-perm freebies to take apart and rebuild.  When you get stuck, post the specific part of your code that gives you trouble, along with a specific question, in the LSL Scripting forum.  (Not "This doesn't work. What's wrong?", but "I was expecting to see a vector output here but all I get is a string of zeroes. Am I reading this list correctly?")  We won't write a script for you, but we'll be glad to share ideas and point you toward solutions.

Welcome to the crowd.

[Lindal Kidd]

Besides the suggestions from Rolig and Maddy, check out the College of Scripting Music and Science.  It is a series of self-paced scripting lessons.  Another great resource is The Particle Laboratory, which is a specialized set of tutorials on scripting particle effects.

I'll notify the Bomb Disposal squad to be on the lookout for you.