Scripting Roundtable (Thursday): Off the shelf languages (Josh's Notes)
- Languages being (have been) used: (approx)
- Java: 2
- Python: 2
- Lua: 3+
- Simkin
- Small
- Scheme
- Erlang
- Custom: 8-10
- Languages not being used:
- For: Designers, UI
- People using existing S.L.s were happy
- 2 People used a custom backend
Reason: (performance), footprint, memory management
- Documentation a big reason to use a standard language (even if end up with a custom back end)
- A Python (remote) debugger was released open source on SourceForge
- One person had problems debugging since he couldn't step into a script call to C code
- Development time the other big reason to use a standard language
- Why use a scripting language?
- Sandbox
- Modify scripts at runtime, faster iteration
- "fake" threading, one for each actor
- User extension
- Used for:
- One person: everything except system/graphics
- Object tuning, animation control, setup, AI, triggers
- GUI: some people used XML for this
- Memory fragmentation problem on consoles, also controlling garbage collection
- Security problem: easier to reverse engineer game
- Python:
- Like: Easy to learn (block by indentation, consistent)
- One person had trouble with editors messing up indentation
- Java:
- Like: has thread support
- Like: fastest of Lua, Python
- Like: static typing reduced errors/bugs
- Scheme: macros and closures were powerful