Hello! 
Something I see a lot, is that often times people who are new to scripting, and are just getting into it, and want to learn it, sometimes have a hard time progressing at first without someone to help push them forward a bit. I think that the first little bit is the absolute hardest part of learning to script, and so, Iâd like to try and suggest some of the ways new scripters can learn completely on their own. Scripting can be super fun, sort of like a puzzle, its not something that requires you to be super smart to do.
One of the things I see people struggle with a lot when they first start trying to learn, is finding out how to do something rather than figuring out what to do at all. âHow do I X.â For example, something I recently was asked, was âHow do I use Terrain in Roblox?â
Questions like these can usually be answered by using Google. And trust me, every. Single. Developer. Needs to ask for help or look things up sometimes. I am constantly Googling and searching the devhub. Itâs absolutely, undeniably impossible to know everything about scripting, and, often times I end up learning new things all the time simply because I didnât know how to do something already.
What often helps when you Google information is making sure you use specific keywords, like Roblox, scripting, etc. For example, âHow do I use Terrain in Roblox?â could end up with different things that arenât scripting related, and scripting is what youâre looking for, so, if you donât find what youâre looking for, try being more specific, for example, âHow do I script Terrain in Roblox?â When Googling this, the first result is an article on the devhub about scripting with Terrain. Figuring out what to Google is sometimes a bit hard, and, often times it just takes adjustment. You start naturally figuring out how to be more specific.
Youâve likely already heard a lot of that a million times, but, I think one of the important things that gets overlooked is that Google sometimes canât always give you what you wanted. The really important thing about Googling things, is, it helps you learn about the topics youâre interested in even if it doesnât actually solve your issue. And this is one of the main things I really feel needs to be emphasized more. Failing to do the thing you originally intended to isnât failing at all!
If you have a goal, like âI want to make Xâ, donât be too afraid to get distracted from your original goal when youâre learning. If you canât find out how to do the thing you want to do, thatâs okay! One of the biggest turning points when I started learning to script was when I started looking at what other people will do to fix their problems. Sometimes, Iâd encounter problems and Iâd look for answers, and, maybe I got what I was looking for, but maybe I didnât. But, the thing that really helped me was, when I didnât get what I was looking for, look at what I did get anyway, and, try and understand what I was reading even if I didnât feel like I understood it at all. Look at what people have to say about it. Sometimes it can give you useful information on a problem you might encounter later, and sometimes it can help you reach your goal indirectly. Sometimes I have started projects and been absolutely stumped on how to do what I wanted, and Iâd come back a month later and Iâd be able to do it exactly how I had wanted simply because of the stuff I picked up along the way.
Lastly, search for what youâre interested in, but still look at what you aren;t. If you have even the smallest or largest ideas, see what you can do with them. Try to make them on your own, and search for the things you donât understand. If you get stuck, take a break, or ask a question.
The absolute, most useful tool for learning to script on Roblox is the devhub, because it in a way has literally everything you can do in Roblox within it. Google can help you find the things on the devhub that can help you to accomplish your goals, and the devhub gives you every detail you might ever need. If youâre trying to learn how to script Terrain, read into some of the things that Terrain can do on its devhub page. If youâre trying to figure out how to get the name of a Player, look at the other things that a Player object can do too. You donât have to look at everything but, sometimes just seeing the names and knowing they are there can be enough to help you in the future. Sometimes something catches your eye because it sounds cool, and, its perfectly okay to look at it, maybe play with it a bit and see how it works.
