So I wanted to start to get more into programming with using roblox. I do a lot of building but I want to be more of a one man team and just do all my own stuff. I’ve taken a few programming classes in school 2 being AP so its not necessarily the actual logic of it, its more of applying it to roblox. I can do simple stuff like change properties and stuff but like I want more depth than that. Does anyone know any good sources or even exercises to work on getting more familiar with the platform?
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Heyo!
I’ve been scripting on and off for the past 2 years, and I’m at the point where I’m fairly confident in my abilities as a programmer on Roblox.
I don’t know much about your exact situation, but I’m guessing that you probably took something along the lines of Computer Science Principles AP or Computer Science Applications AP?
You said that you have some experience in programming already, though it seems like fairly basic knowledge. I would highly recommend taking a look at Programming in Lua as a direct resource for Lua, and the Developer Wiki as a Roblox-related source.
For people learning Roblox Lua, I typically recommend this path:
- Variables
- Functions
- Events
→ At this point, you should be able to comfortably handle situations where you need to connect a Roblox Event (such asPlayerAddedorTouched) to a function. - If statements, and for/while loops
- Tables (both regular and dictionaries)
- The complicated stuff™ (see below)
Along the way, there is a lot of Roblox stuff that you may find out that you need to learn (certain services, and things like that). The goal of my path is not necessarily to learn everything, but to get developers comfortable enough to develop their own self-confidence and a desire to learn. It might take a while to tackle the heavier topics (CFrames, HTTP Service and Metatables will take quite some time) but once you get there, you should be able to take it bit by bit.
The main thing that I can recommend is to not give up. There are a lot of people around you, and you may not always do things the “best way”. But you’ll pick up small things as you go along - focus on what you’ve learned, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
I’m actually beginning a scripting tutorial series on my YouTube channel, which attempts to teach developers who know literally nothing about Lua or Roblox Studio and get them to a good point. If you’re interested, the first episode (which goes over variables) is here. Good luck!
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Sounds good, thanks for the suggestions. Right now im at like a number 5 on your list. Im pretty confident with everything else. Most of my work ive done has been in JavaScript so Ill probably just have to look over some things to get comfortable with Lua. What exactly would you use tables for in roblox?
Tables are a great way to deal with large amounts of data. It’s much easier to deal with one table rather than having to filter through children and values.
Another reason to use tables is that it’s pretty much the only way to save complex data (e.g. objects, like parts). You can’t directly save objects into datastores, so the next best thing is to save the type, the quantity, and the position (if needed).