First of all, I would like to apologize if this question seems stupid. My brother asked me this and I’m not quite sure what to tell him.
Overall, I’ve been developing Roblox games for nearly 6-8 years now. When I started, I wasn’t sure what to learn, so I made lots of mistakes, such as starting with large projects and using too many open source stuff instead of doing smaller ones first and scripting my games myself. I gained a lot of experience in Building, Animating, UI Design, etc., however, when it comes to scripting, I only improved in knowledge of syntax and theory, but when I have to write code from scratch, I cannot connect what I have learned into a single script(if that makes sense). With experience, I learned that programming is much more than knowing and understanding the syntax. The programming language we use(in this case, Lua) is just a tool that can always be replaced. Still, the ability to code requires much more than knowing the syntax, and to learn how to do it, you should solve tons of exercises and practice a lot. Overall, I reached some intermediate level. I can edit, fix, and understand codes, however, I can’t write them on my own unless they’re very simple ones.
Do you think it’s a good idea to ‘restart’ learning how to script from scratch and practice on everything I learn(or re-learn) to understand it better, or should I keep making games based on what I know but start with simple ones, or even should I try a new programming language such as C# or Python before trying to learn Lua since there are more books/resources to learn them?
Note: I understand there were many similar topics, but I’m just not sure what would be the best solution for this.
Its actually hard to learn how to script for first time or second time or anytime. but however if its easy for you then i recommend that you need to do it. Happy Halloween!
I definitely don’t think you would need to ‘restart from scratch’, as knowing the syntax of a language and how to read code are both very valuable and should help you in the future. However if you’re having trouble applying your knowledge, I’d definitely recommend practicing by building small scripts with specific purposes to start connecting what you know.
Learning other languages might help you because a lot of programming languages use similar overarching concepts such as: variable types, conditional structures, functions/methods, classes (usually), etc. but I wouldn’t say it’s a requirement to learn another one first.
But yeah really just focus on practicing what you know for sure, and don’t be afraid to check the Developer Hub if you get stuck.
P.S. Once you feel comfortable writing smaller scripts and functions it may be useful to look into ‘good’ programming practices and concepts including modularity, proper documentation, delegation, etc. Basically any skills that can help you make more manageable and understandable code for large projects. (Just an optional suggestion)
If your problem is you have trouble starting to write code from scratch it could help to get better at envisioning your code before you write it down. I usually think of my code in steps and write it as I go, it doesn’t look like you’re exactly a beginner but when I was new my mind twisted itself into knots when I tried to write my code, I didn’t know where to begin. After I practiced a lot I got so much better at writing code and I instinctively new where to begin, a lot of it comes from experience I guess. If you do understand the concepts you need to know to script then I’m not sure if relearning it will help, but I am anything but an expert so I really don’t have any idea.
It’s not like the information you previously had would magically disappear, restarting is dumb and you will waste time going through the concepts you already learned.
I don’t think you should restart entirely if you can understand and read the LUA syntax, Because that would be a major waste of time if you relearn everything from the beginning cause that would result in you learning about previous concepts you know about. You should continue.
