How easy is it to learn javascript? Thread

Ok i'm working with Unity and well I need to learn some scripting and from what I've been told javascript is closer to english than c# which to me makes it easier to read and understand thus learn as well but I'm not a coder, not yet at least. I want to decide whether I should learn javascript or C#. which is easier, for the most part, to learn. Not exactly for the future but for the right now. I know C# or whathave you has a background in C and C++ or something and I'm not going to invest that much time into 1 language if I have to learn 3 to do what I need. But I also understant not a lot of engines use javascript so I'd be limited. That's the extent of my coding knowledge (seriously it is), so let me know what you think?

I'd stick with C#, it's a more full-featured programming language and is much closer to other languages should you want to do anything else in future.

Javascript is a bit wierd and not intended for game development, it's a web scripting language.

where can I get resources to learn C# then, I'm doing a search but a good PDF is always better.

This will get you more than started:
Amazon.com

kind of on the broke side right now, is this Programminglearn.com a good start until I can buy that book?

Honestly, it sounds like that book goes into an awful lot of stuff you won't ever need to know - but give the first few chapters a run through anyway, I'm sure it can't hurt.

Learning C# 3.0:
Amazon.com
is probably a better choice.

Edited by: MrTambourineMan

I also found this in a pdf for cheap, is this too advanced or no? Amazon.com

I think that this book is obsolete, it uses DirectX & C# which is no longer supported. So I'd suggest learning some C# form the aforementioned book (or any other good book, check Amazon) and then I'd read a book on C# with OpenGL and/or XNA.

well I'm using Unity so I don't think direct X is much of the problem or option there, don't get me wrong I don't exactly know. that book is from 2005 and references Xbox 2 so I would need to read a more up to date book but I'm cash strapped for the time being( not forever just for right now) and I want to get a head start before I buy the books mentioned.

afaik Unityscript (Javascript +2) is better / more optimized than C# for Unity engine itself. Of course it depends what your future goals are and you can always learn new language once you understand the basics of one

Are there any and where is the documention for unity script?

Most of these questions can be google, found under script documentation in unity, or in the unity forum. If you are using unity I don't see how you can miss the help tab with the "everything you need to know" link in the software.

And I would never start with c#, it is hard to learn and why waste time went you can use javascript, IMO jacascript is easier than visual basic, that's just me.

The question to yourself is, are you going to be a programmer in the future? If you are then you can learn whatever you want because in the end you will have to learn everything anyway. If you are a game designer or a artist who need a bit of code to get some prototype going, javascript is a much better option to invest in.

shadowofamn wrote: And I would never start with c#, it is hard to learn and why waste time went you can use javascript, IMO jacascript is easier than visual basic, that's just me.

lol man :p
1. its not hard if your willing to put effort in it, C# is relatively easy to pick up
2. C# and VB are two different things x3

C# is easy start here, i think its a good reference: Csharp-station.com

yea after reading some material I see how poorly and blind my statement was written.

You should learn the basics first tho
the unity documentation is written in the toughts that you grasp the basics

Sigma wrote:

shadowofamn wrote: And I would never start with c#, it is hard to learn and why waste time went you can use javascript, IMO jacascript is easier than visual basic, that's just me.

lol man :p
1. its not hard if your willing to put effort in it, C# is relatively easy to pick up
2. C# and VB are two different things x3

C# is easy start here, i think its a good reference: Csharp-station.com

I don't know how many men hours I spent on C#, call me an idiot I just cant pick it up, same goes for Java and C++ or C.
I know VB and C# is different, I am just saying VB is suppose to be simple (thats why they call it basic?) and I think Javascript is more simpler in my case. I guess Javascript is made for me.

C# is more like a baby from C++ and VB

from what I read C# is like VB, C and Javas illigitimate baby with combined elements of all of them. C# isn't hard persay it's just a lot of math and equations and that shit just doesn't stick to my brain that well but I'm trying something new so I have to read a lot and not fall asleep.

C# is just C/Java combination with .NET implementation that is all :p
Visual Basic is just based on the old BASIC with forms (hence the visual :p)

C# isn't hard persay it's just a lot of math and equations and that shit

that is not dependand on C#, it depends on what you need to program some programs have no math at all, while others are only math. it depends on what your gonna program really

my two cents
Unity 3D does support Javascript on the same level as C#.We use Javascript. It's simple to learn; so you may have a better team coding environment because more people are willing to tackle that language.
I don't think there is anything wrong with C#, but anything invented by Microsoft may cost you something somewhere down the road.

sydrose wrote: C# isn't hard persay it's just a lot of math and equations and that shit

Entirely depends on what you're programming, but get used to it. Games are math. LOTS of math, sometimes pretty complex.

indeed get used to using alot of vectors for one :p

The beauty of unity is that you can use JS and C# at the same time
so complex game logic might be written by a "real" programmer in C# while some superficial scripts might be written in JS for "easier" access
afaik, all 3 cases (solo js, solo c#, js/c#) have the same performance (read it somewhere :p)

another two cents: I think you can do somewhat complex logic and math in JavaScript also. The problem with JavaScript, is the name. You read *script and think, well script Developer.mozilla.org
I prefer C++; but given the choice between JavaScript or C#, JavaScript is it. Very biased opinion. It's used on websites the world over, and we could get peeps familiar with it in an instant. C#, well not that lucky. And the higher super logic, well we are kind of hoping that Unity 3D will do that very tough stuff

Well, the javascript scripts are executed by the same VM as C#, so there is no performance difference
C# is widely used too if we look up the statistics we get this top 3:

1. Java
2. C
3. C++

Then we find C# on spot 6 and JS on spot 9
So C# is actually more used then JS in the end, its just opinion ^^
there is allso Boo in Unity, which is a deritative of Python. but the documentation was pretty lacking last time i looked :p

The fact that more people use C than C++ amazes me. Probably down to lots of older codebases still being used and maintained.

The fact that anyone uses Java also amazes me, because the APIs are shit.