Where should I start learning scripting?

[K0RUII (Koruii)]

Lately, I have been getting rather bored with composing as it’s always the same. I have always wanted to script, but I don’t know where to start. Any ideas?

[StrongBigeMan9]

I’m not sure which resources you’re aware of already, but I would suggest diversifying the places that you gather information from, as utilizing one outlet of information will have its limitations for how much you can learn.

Using a variety of resources will enable you to build a stronger foundation for learning while preventing bad habits from forming since it becomes easier to find a wider range of information that you can compare with other sources to make sure it’s reliable.

Here’s what I suggested in one of my guides:

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@StrongBigeMan9

Recommended Resources

1. Programming in Lua books - Provides detailed explanations and “tutorials” about many aspects of the Lua language. The first version of the book (which focuses on Lua version 5.0) can be viewed for free personal use on the same website.1a. Lua 5.1’s Official Reference Manual - Official documentation of the Lua coding language.

• Although Roblox has greatly built upon Lua 5.1, evolving into Luau , the official reference manual contains incredible information about the base language!
• Using these resources may allow you to have a better fundamental understanding of the language, which may accelerate the learning process when using Roblox Lua.
  • Although the description of the Programming in Lua series states that the books are written for people with some programming experience, keep in mind that “ it does not assume any prior knowledge about Lua or other scripting languages. ” This could be a fantastic book to cross-reference while learning from more Roblox-focused/Luau-based resources!

2. Education.Roblox website - Contains dozens of detailed guides with relatable examples

• Code Fundamentals Series with 30 individual guides
• Has reliable and valuable information
• Projects that allow you to apply various coding concepts in realistic scenarios

3. Roblox Developer Hub - This is the home of the API Reference! (Also contains many guides)

• NOTE (April 6th, 2022):

  • The Developer Hub will eventually be replaced by the new Creator Documentation site, which can be found here: https://create.roblox.com/docs Learn more about this change on its announcement topic.

• API Reference - This has documentation and explanations for various elements of coding. Example: This page explains what a ProximityPrompt is, in addition to the functionality of each of its properties.

• Short-form articles can be found here too! Let’s say the documentation for the ProximityPrompt wasn’t enough for you to understand how it works. Well, in this case, there’s also an article that provides a starter project and visual explanations to set it up.

4. Roblox Developer Forum - Thousands of user-made threads can be found here!

• This is a place to share ideas & learn alongside others
• Tons of useful information can be found here. For example, if you have a question that wasn’t answered from the other resources, you can utilize the search feature to see if your question has any answers before asking for yourself.
• A variety of incredible resources can be found here, ranging from Elttob’s Vanilla Roblox Studio Icons to EgoMoose’s Gravity Controller, and loleris’ ProfileService DataStore Module, there’s plenty of fantastic creations by the community!

5. Roblox Lua Style Guide GitHub - Recommended coding practices are demonstrated here

• Prevent bad habits from forming by using this resource! – This is an incredible resource that is not often talked about. I didn’t know about this until the end of 2020 and I wish I knew about it sooner.
• Following the practices outlined in this resource will make your code more legible, making it easier to modify and debug over time.

6. Lua Learning - A hands-on learning Roblox Game made by @boatbomber!

• Interactive learning w/user-made guides – Because it’s a more familiar environment, it might be easier to learn from this resource for certain topics
• Over time, there might be a full collection of lessons in this game that cover the fundamentals

7. Roblox Creator Challenges - A collection of concise tutorials created by Roblox

• Using the resources in each place description, learn in another interactive environment. – Note: Some of the articles associated with these places have been taken down. If anyone knows if they are still accessible anywhere, please let me know!
• Lesson - Roblox Studio Basics
• Quiz - Roblox Studio Basics
• Scripting Challenge
• Building Challenge

8. YouTube - Contains a conglomeration (a looooot) of resources that span a chasm (a variety) of development topics

• DO NOT rely off of YouTube for ALL of your learning – Although it may be easier to consume content in this format, it’s oftentimes better to make YouTube a supplementary resource/visual aid for learning. This is because practicing with the coding language on your own will allow you to experience and understand how different coding concept work together.
• Regardless, four channels that I greatly recommend (aside from my own ) include AlvinBlox , okeanskiy , B Ricey , and GnomeCode . all of which I admire greatly for their approaches toward development and content creation.

Edit April 6th, 2021: Added B Ricey to the list of recommended channels – I stumbled across their channel shortly after finishing this project so I didn’t get to recommend their content in the video!

Edit December 22nd, 2021: Added GnomeCode to the list of recommended channels. I first watched one of GnomeCode’s videos a month after creating this tutorial/guide but I forgot to include their channel here until December of 2021!

[xxxXMadStudioXxxx1st (DimerRaids)]

What I did is went to ‘TheDevKing’ YouTube channel and did his basic, then advanced scripting tutorials, he’s great and will teach you quick. To practice just try working on peoples questions on the scripting support page or try to recreate games on Roblox.

[K0RUII (Koruii)]

Thanks! I’ll read over this! Also, I love ur channel.

[hopeshusbvnd (eee)]

saw a big, long reply under this post which you should probably read and take into account but I learned mainly from 3 places.

1. The DevHub (API Reference) | An AMAZING resource that I use to this day. It has a lot of useful resources and API’s which tell you how the language works? yeah that made no sense- so pretty much if you wanna know something about Lua for example UserInputService you’d look up UserInputService Roblox API and it’ll give you a long article on UserInputService and will tell you all of its uses and everything else you might need to know about it.

2. Youtube | There’s numerous scripting tutorial videos on youtube and many of them are great. Not all since some just give code without explaining it which isnt really learning, its just copying words- From youtubers I suggest watching TheDevKing who has two playlists which really helped me learn the basics before I try out any games or etc. The first playlist is called Beginner’s Roblox Scripting Tutorials (Beginner to Pro 2018) which tells you all the basics of roblox studio and scripting. After that you should watched the advanced playlist as it goes deeper into the nooks and crannies of roblox scripting. I also suggest checking out DevZoid! He has great videos about abilities and takes time to really go deep into the code and explain everything he does so it all makes sense and you really understand what you’re writing and why it works.

3. The DevForum | This will be your second best friend when it comes to scripting (first being DevHub.) Anything you can’t find on DevHub, can’t figure out by yourself, or can’t find tutorials of on Youtube you’ll find the answer to on here. The Forum has helped me soooo so much with finding solutions to my script errors and even where to begin scripting things (yes, you will get stuck on how to start a script, happens to everyone literally all the time)

4. Coffee | Not exactly a resource but it sure helps (trust me this one’s been tested before)

I wasn’t planning on writing this much but why the heck not? If me with my 2 braincells was able to learn how to script from those 3 places, I don’t doubt for a second that you can learn it too. I hope this can be of some help to you and good luck on your adventures!