Which programming language and engine to choose?

emrean55

Hello!
I am completely new to Godot and I am wondering which programming language and engine version I should choose for my projects.

Language: which of the three supported languages allows me to do the most in Godot? Are all three equally supported? Learning is not a problem, I just want to use the most "powerful" and language of the three.

Engine: appart from supporting C#, what sets the .NET engine apart? Is it faster/smaller or better in any way?

Thanks!

xyz

emrean55 There's no really need to "choose". They can work together. Start doing everything in GDScript. It's most convenient. If performance intensive parts appear in your code and for some reason GDScript itself is the bottleneck, port those parts to C++ or C#. C++ will be more performant. The exposed APIs are identical in all 3 languages so porting parts of your code between them is trivial.

DaveTheCoder

emrean55 engine version

Use Godot 4 (4.5.1-stable) unless you have a specific reason for using Godot 3 (3.6.2-stable).

For staying informed about new releases: https://godotengine.org/blog/

Toxe

emrean55 Use GDScript until you feel something is very slow and not your fault and you can't fix it in GDScript. Then use C++ to tune the slow parts.

MikeCL

Hi there,

I've only used Godot with GDScript and C++, so I can't say much about the other languages. But in general, I would say to go with the language you are most comfortable with. GDScript is explicitly made for Godot (and is very close to Python), but I know C# is a popular language too.

emrean55

MikeCL Thanks for your input!

emrean55

xyz Thanks! Which one of the three language have the biggest eco system of libs? I know from other platforms (like Corona) how important it is to have a lot of external libs (e.g. qr code reading, image processing, connection to back end services like Backendless etc) to add to my projects.

xyz

emrean55 Well GDScript's only ecosystem is Godot. It pack a lot though. You typically won't need any external libraries except Godot's APIs. And C# and C++ have what they have.

Just start with GDScript. You'll be fine.

DaveTheCoder

emrean55 the three languages

Unless I'm mistaken, the available built-in scripting languages are GDScript and C#.

The engine itself is written in C++. C++ can only be used for making changes to the engine, or adding extensions.

https://docs.godotengine.org/en/4.5/getting_started/step_by_step/scripting_languages.html#available-scripting-languages

emrean55

xyz Ok, thank you very much for your time and help! :o)

emrean55

DaveTheCoder Thanks for your help!