Hello! My name is RainbowStachio, and I’m an aspiring developer. I already know how to model decently, and soon I’d like to expand my horizons, and learn to program! Now quick disclaimer, a few of the things I say may be incorrect. Ok, so I would like to learn to program. From what I’m aware of right now, python is the big programming software used everywhere (I’m not talking about roblox right now.) Right now, I’d like to learn lua, so I can make my own games completely, because I’d have learned to script and model. The issue with this is, I’m not sure how popular lua is in other program. I want to learn to program many different things, but also to program lua for roblox. Of course, I could learn both, but I’d like to know where to spend my time in. So first off, what is the difference between lua and other programming softwares? Second, is lua very different from other ones (like would it be harder to learn a new program if I already learned lua?) Third, How much is lua used in other places? Fourth, is it worth my time to learn both? Thank you so much for the help, and if I posted this in the wrong area, please redirect me. --RainbowStachio.
You shouldn’t post this in Scripting Support simply because this isn’t a scripting problem.
Instead this should probably be in Game Design Support.
@Nerkonl not accurate either
You are not trying to learn Python or any other language and it won’t help you with learning Lua for programming games on Roblox. Just learn Lua and if you are that interested go into Python and other languages. It’s good to want to broaden your horizons but don’t overwhelm yourself
Where should this be then? I think Game Design Support would fit, if not then perhaps Discussion?
Learning Lua is all well and good however if you use Roblox to do this you’re more than likely going to learn how to program games exclusively on Roblox as Lua here depends nearly entirely on the libraries provided by Roblox.
If you’re going to learn to program in general, you should learn something simple like JavaScript. There are plenty of tutorials and such out there, if you’re like me and like to read things the I suggest going w3schools and taking some lessons there.
Programming is mainly about learning how to think computationally, logically and progressively (the latter doesn’t apply to functional programming, however that is an entirely different ball park) so a lot of things you’ll need to learn are loop functions, conditions and routines and all that sorta stuff. A combination of basic language syntax and a good problem solving technique is all you need to be able to “program” something.
Hope this helps,
-Tom 
Minor misunderstanding, but Python and Lua are programming languages, not software
I personally think learning Lua is “easier” than Python, because it’s a lot easier to stay motivated when you have an entire platform to learn and make games in
Once you learn a programming language, it’s easier to learn others, and that’s especially true for Python, as it’s similar to Lua
Lua isn’t as widely used as Python, the only other place I’ve seen it being popular is with World of Warcraft Addons which are made in Lua
Your topic is filled with interesting questions so let me answer them in order
- So first off, what is the difference between lua and other programming softwares?: all language are different, not just in syntax, but in everything (high-level vs mid-level, dynamically typed vs staticaly typed , strongly typed vs weakly typed ect.). Lua is supposed to be a lightweight language, meaning something very light and small to work with, which makes it perfect to use it as an extension language, meaning an extra language to use in certain cases along with a main language that is used in almost everything. Lua can be be considered to be ported as a library! That’s how light it is.
- Second, is lua very different from other ones (like would it be harder to learn a new program if I already learned lua?): this is the same answer as the first question, for the question in the brackets: in general, learning any language, makes it easier to learn another one, they’re all programming languages, especially imperative ones. Same idea (variables, loops, functions …), different way of writing. Some people consider lua and pythong to be somewhat similar syntac wise, so mearning pythong afterwards might be easy.
- How much is lua used in other places?: lua is used a lot actually, it’s used in teamspeak, it’s used as an extension language in WoW (World of Warcraft), Garry’s mod’s mods are written in lua, the popular ComputerCraft minecraft mod is used using lua, heck! Roblox, which is obviously one of the most popular platforms uses lua, for both its developers and partially its engine. Don’t underestimate lua, it’s widely used.
- Fourth, is it worth my time to learn both?: Absolutely! Learning multiple things at once is an amazing idea. Although for a beginner, I recommend dropping that python idea, learn lua first, become good with the Roblox studio, then move to other stuff. Also, you’re probably never going to use python, just because you’re always within the Roblox bounds, so expect to forget some stuff and need some refreshing. Just don’t focus a lot on it! Knowing more than 1 language doesn’t mean being smart, instead you could learn topics about computerscience in general (I suggest looking up Computerphile), and maths someday.
I think this isn’t a good question, to advance the development of your game or something else in Roblox, you must and need to learn Lua. The answer is obvious. However, if you feel that you want to have a power of 9000, you could learn JavaScript, C++, etc. If you want your game to have communications to external websites or anything else 
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I don’t see how this is better in #help-and-feedback:game-design-support, that place is for anything related to developing a game such as playerbase and popularity questions, suggestions for features. #discussion is for discussing topics, something contreversial, an opinion or a question that might interest the community. It’s true that this topic isn’t so roblox related, but #help-and-feedback:scripting-support is the best place for it. You shouldn’t tell someone to switch categories if you’re not toally sure.