GDscript is becoming an amazing language (3.1 dev).

Ace_Dragon

I have to say this, GDscript is really starting to come out on its own in Godot 3.x.

First we got enums, which can be quite handy once you learn how to use them properly
Now we have optional typing, and the amazing thing about it is that it's not an either/or thing not only in your game project, but within the script itself. Case in point, you don't know how to convert some variable types to their typed form. No worry, you can just leave them as dynamic and the script will still work when run (this being despite the fact that not every line is marked 'safe'). I think in this case, it offers an amazing balance between Python-like coding and the fully typed methodology of languages like C#.

What do you think, is GDscript becoming of age? I'd say at this point it is becoming significantly better as a game making language than Python.

emo10001

My experience with other game making languages is somewhat limited...a little bit of C+, a little bit of Python, but I will say that I agree that GDscript is definitely coming into it's own. Definitely maturing. It's exciting to think of where it will be in another year or two!

-emo

aztecsensei

hello! i am not a programmer but for what ive seen and read 'programmers' loves it, and thats fantastic because they doing really cool stuff with it. can u imagine it in some years... it looks like is pretty newbs coders friendly, definitely one of the strongest cards of godot to attract new users. thats what i think... o:)

GarromOrcShaman

@aztecsensei said: hello! i am not a programmer but for what ive seen and read 'programmers' loves it, and thats fantastic because they doing really cool stuff with it. can u imagine it in some years... it looks like is pretty newbs coders friendly, definitely one of the strongest cards of godot to attract new users. thats what i think... o:)

Well, you can be a programmer. GDScript is easy to learn and have simple basics. Once you master basics, you had mastered everything because it is all based on basics.Just place tabs correctly and you will be fine.

MagicLord

We should get a full C# compatibility soon, it's a faster language with Classes support to better structure your code, and Visual Studio with intellisense makes coding faster. I'm using GDscript and i like it.

GarromOrcShaman

@MagicLord said: We should get a full C# compatibility soon, it's a faster language with Classes support to better structure your code, and Visual Studio with intellisense makes coding faster. I'm using GDscript and i like it.

I think newables will use GDScript. Yeah, C# IS great and have many benefits but it is very complicated and very strict. GDScript is...uhm.. well. It is like LUA and Phyton had theeresome with Node-n-Resorce system and GDscript was created spawn. It is simple, effective and easy to learn.

Ace_Dragon

@MagicLord said: We should get a full C# compatibility soon, it's a faster language with Classes support to better structure your code, and Visual Studio with intellisense makes coding faster. I'm using GDscript and i like it.

The speed potential of GDscript though has gone up since the recent commit, and don't forget that C# is a bit more complex to work with in general. In GDscript, you can at least get testable game logic in seconds.

MagicLord

@GarromOrcShaman said:

@MagicLord said: We should get a full C# compatibility soon, it's a faster language with Classes support to better structure your code, and Visual Studio with intellisense makes coding faster. I'm using GDscript and i like it.

I think newables will use GDScript. Yeah, C# IS great and have many benefits but it is very complicated and very strict. GDScript is...uhm.. well. It is like LUA and Phyton had theeresome with Node-n-Resorce system and GDscript was created spawn. It is simple, effective and easy to learn.

I agree GDscript is easy to use, there is no need to type brackets for example or variables declaration doesn't need to specify the type.

@Ace Dragon said:

@MagicLord said: We should get a full C# compatibility soon, it's a faster language with Classes support to better structure your code, and Visual Studio with intellisense makes coding faster. I'm using GDscript and i like it.

The speed potential of GDscript though has gone up since the recent commit, and don't forget that C# is a bit more complex to work with in general. In GDscript, you can at least get testable game logic in seconds.

C# is two or five times faster than GDscript, this will have a huge impact on a game with lot of complex scripts like a 3D game. C#is not so more complicated, there is a class like a file for each GDscript, and methods are the same (init,update), the Api usage is the same. You can compare a script in GDscript and another in C# you'll see they are the same beside some details. Unity is very popular with C# and there is a reason lot of people like C#. Working with Visual Studio speed up the code writing.

While it's good to have GDscript, anyone can make a game without needing to download stuff from Microsoft for example or have some project dependencies with .Net.

There is two main supported languages in Godot , one very easy and good enough, another needing Visual Studio with dependencies more appropriated for bigger games.

Ace_Dragon

GDscript though differs in classes in that you don't need to explicitly define the class as well as define what classes the functions used come from.

Also, even typed GDscript gives you the option to not go to a fully typed way of programming (ie. not having to learn how to perform casts and saving a lot of typing as a result). If you want to limit the typed part to specifying variables (for the purpose of avoiding bugs) you can do that.

Thirdly, I would guess a big part of what makes C# faster is that it's a compiled language. GDscript can actually catch up there if there was a sort of JIT or AOT compile solution that runs when the game is started (other engines that implemented such saw huge speed boosts). The optional typed form of scripting could actually help here (because of things like a variable's type being known in advance).

GarromOrcShaman

@Ace Dragon said: ... of what makes C# faster is that it's a compiled language. GDscript can actually catch up there if there was a sort of JIT or AOT compile solution that runs when the game is ...

Oh boy, that is genial ! You know, work in interpreted language brings some pain, mostly about debugging. Compiled it whole at once will be great.

moblcade

I am working on an AOT compiler for GDSCRIPT. Inititially focused on iOS but will later target other platforms.

AoT is crucial for IOS because apple still does not allow JIT outside of their own products and their Javascript engine.

My AoT works by generating C++ source then that is compiled to native.

Will have demo available in coming months.

MagicLord

@Ace Dragon said: GDscript though differs in classes in that you don't need to explicitly define the class as well as define what classes the functions used come from.

Also, even typed GDscript gives you the option to not go to a fully typed way of programming (ie. not having to learn how to perform casts and saving a lot of typing as a result). If you want to limit the typed part to specifying variables (for the purpose of avoiding bugs) you can do that.

Thirdly, I would guess a big part of what makes C# faster is that it's a compiled language. GDscript can actually catch up there if there was a sort of JIT or AOT compile solution that runs when the game is started (other engines that implemented such saw huge speed boosts). The optional typed form of scripting could actually help here (because of things like a variable's type being known in advance).

I agree.

I don't use C# , because it's not complete on 3D and not enough stable, but it's what i will use when it will get there. GDscript getting a compiler, it could become perhaps almost as fast as C# and it could stay the main language i would use in Godot :)

GarromOrcShaman

Well, I'm ex - C # programmer, Do you think I would use GDScript if C # was better? GDScript allows me to develop complex game logic within hours. GDScript allows me to create things within few hours, things that which take days or weeks with C #.

Ace_Dragon

Another benefit of recent GDscript changes, the work by Vnen has led to me spending less time tracking down errors and resolving issues and more time just working on the game (I can be sloppy at times when writing a lot of code and the improved error detection prevents a lot of small mistakes that can prevent the game from running).

The "safe lines" feature can help too. In some cases related to declaring variables and setting values, they can give you the hint as to what you typed will actually throw an error when testing.

Ace_Dragon

It looks like the docs. for static typing has gone up. http://docs.godotengine.org/en/latest/getting_started/scripting/gdscript/static_typing.html

The nice thing that sticks out is the promise of potentially major performance improvements in the future for scripts that utilize the paradigm, perhaps for version 3.2 or later. GDscript continues to advance from being similar to Python to being superior (in the area of games at least).

NeoD

Reduz talked about "typed operators" in some tweet for the next Godot version. I guess it's about performance.