Godot V4.2 (this maybe isn’t really necessary, but whatever)
Question
So I’ve been using Godot for a while, and I think the only thing I need to know now is where I can learn more about GDScript.
Sure I could just watch some youtube videos covering tips and tricks and basically everything the language has, which Is how I learned and mastered Scratch.
Now I could do the same but with the amount of things in GDScript and different combinations with all the code, It’s hard for me to know what areas of the language I should learn first to actually know how to make something with it.
Scratch is a block-based programming language, which means all I have to do is know what each block is and how to use, and then I’m good to go, and back when I was learning C++(before I decided to focus on GDScript and come back to it later), I was using a website (called W3Schools) as a step by step guide on how to learn it, that’s why It was easy for me to start learning it.
So if they’re are any suggestions on where I could learn more, or any places you learnt the language, Please let me know, Thank You
@anon45973056 When I say improve my knowledge, I don’t specifically mean learning all the different aspects, but by actually learning it and getting better, I don’t think I have the time to try helping people out when I’m a complete newbie and will prob be of no help, so answering questions on forums just wont help.
@Bohlin I’ve already completed the Learn Zero from GDScript course, but I STILL need to learn more about GDScript. Just enough knowledge for me to be capable of making a game on my own is what I need
I am a beginner myself, but I think the best place to start is to simply try making things yourself.
Begin with tutorials and finish an entire playlist/series. This will expose you to the different nodes available, and give you an idea of the kinds of things available in your toolkit. Try creating 2 or 3 different kind of game genres with tutorials to get a broad sense of the skills/processes to do certain things.
After that, I think you need to avoid getting stuck in “tutorial hell” and try making something yourself entirely from scratch.
I mean if you know all the regular language stuff, OOP, data structures, pointers, and other language features. then you don’t need to get better at Gdscript. You need to start thinking about design and systems to put the tools to practice. These concepts are language agnostic.
My suggestion will be to find and start a project.
Even if you don’t know where to start, trying and failing is the best way to learn.
@Bohlin Yes, that’s the same way I learned Scratch too, And also what I’m doing with Godot as of right now, But when I tried to, I realized there’s still more I need to learn before I’m comfortable with doing it on my own with only a few tutorials to help out
@pennyloafers I dont actually know all the language stuff, in fact the last thing I learned in C++ before focusing on GDScript was Arrays (if I remember correctly). Pointers is something I kinda know the definition of, but never put to practice before.
Also one of the reasons I thought maybe learning GDScript first could help out is because it’s actually an easier language to learn and can help me learn all the basic stuff in typed programming so that learning C++ could be smooth sailing for me.
I would say it will be harder going from Gdscript to C++ then it would be C++ to Gdscript.
There isn’t a dedicated pointer/reference syntax in gdscript. Which i enjoy, but it will be an obstacle to understand going gd-to-c direction.
There are definitely more data structures and types available in c++. Gdscript basically hides all the important stuff (for food reasons) that you need to know to be an effective c++ programmer.
And to some degree gdscript is limited in features currently, but hopefully should get better.
I wouldn’t say you shouldn’t do it, just an fyi. If you want to better prepare yourself, turn on strict type enforcement.
Maybe GDScript won’t help me learn all those C++ specific features, But it can still give me a broad sense on how these types of languages work, and would also help out in me knowing the basic elements of these
Brakeys released recenly a beginner GDScript specific video. Even if they explaning quite basic stuff at the begining of the video, they end up explaning very specific features of the language and showing some example. Really reacomended. They also point to another short video which is extreamly usefull in terms of code structuring. Check video description.
As of writing this I have finished watching Brackey’s video on GDScript, So now I’m ready to learn even more concepts to help me fully get the hang of this language.
Any suggestions for which concepts in GDScript I should learn next?
The class reference
Here you’ll find documentation about every class available in Godot, with all their attributes, methods, and signals. A lot of them also have links to relevant tutorials or demo projects. Again, this is mostly a reference/lookup tool - if I know I need to do something with vectors, for example, I’ll take a look at the page for the Vector2 or Vector3 class.
If you’re not comfortable doing a project of your own just yet, then I recommend deviating a bit from the tutorials you follow. Try to implement extra features, or different versions of the features made in the tutorial. That’s a good stepping stone towards making your own things.
But really, coding something on your own - even if it’s a really small and simple project - is the best way to get good at programming. Understanding each feature of the language is useful, yeah, but the hardest thing to learn is how to think when you’re actually trying to solve a problem, and that’s something that takes practice. A good tutorial can demonstrate that kind of thinking, but you won’t get good at it without putting in some hours of struggling with it yourself.
