Customer Reviews

Introduction to Linden Scripting Language for Second Life

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As soon as I saw the words, "(this) is beyond the scope of this book", I knew it was not going to be a very good book. To me, that is a just a way of saying I am too lazy to at least refer you to a source to learn more about (this). And it has proven itself to be true. The book is written by using examples and they do not address the concepts that you will encounter. There are many options in dealing with writing scripts in SL that are not mentioned. The illustrations are in black and white, yet the author refers to the colors on them. The functions they give in the examples pass variables, yet no mention is given to what they are and how they are used. The book is filled with trivialities, no references to further information sources, and has no real organization. The only positive thing I can say is that it is a fast read. I finished it in one sitting, which should be the case for the average reader. Since so much in SL is a commercial venture, I can see why they wrote it. They will lead you to their SL location and there you can spend even more than this book costs.

This book is easy to understand for anyone that has a basic knowledge of computer languages. It walks you through the processes of how to make your own scripts for Second Life using the LSL language. It proves that the writer had thought everything that he or she was going to write about before hand and the scripts they where going to use before organizing the contents in this book. If your a Second Life fanatic and your looking for a good book to teach you how to do the dreaded and all powerful skill of scripting, I recommend this book.

This book is an absolute intro to Linden Scripts. The author uses the classic presentation technique of 1) Tell your audience what you are going to tell them; 2) Tell it to your audience; followed by 3) Tell your audience what you told them. If you have ever had to do a presentation to an audience, you understand what I mean.

If you think you wish to write code in Linden Scripting Language, this book gives you a very clear, easy to grasp understanding of the basic structure of the language, the method of approach to writing code, and simple but easy to follow examples.

The approach in this book may seem a bit too simple to those with extensive programming experience. But, that serves to make it a quick read for you so you can jump right into coding. For those new to programming, the approach in this book is much easier to understand than many "introductions" I've read.

The book will not make you an expert Linden Script programmer. Only practice and experience will do that. But it helps you get into the right frame of mind to understand how to view a coding problem to make it work in-life.

While you can find this information online, the book has one significant advantage. It is written text with an index. You can underline, bookmark, circle, highlight and write margin notes (it even has blank pages for your own notes) and you can use it with no electricity or web connection. That means you can read it in a doctor's waiting room, on the bus, a train, in a car (as a passenger), or in your own "library" (don't ask).

See you inlife.

If you are serious about learning to use Second Life Script Language, do not waste your time or money on this book. It is poorly organized, poorly written, poorly illustrated, and poorly edited. It suffers throughout from a complete lack of understanding of basic educational practices. Major concepts are not clearly defined, but assume a level of knowledge inappropriate for an introductory text. Examples are as often of what does not work as of what does. Examples are also drawn from other programming languages, muddying the already confusing text. Information is not sequenced in a logical progression but jumps from topic to topic. Illustrations are dark and hard to see or read. References are made to colors in the illustrations, which have all been converted to grayscale, eliminating the colors referenced in the text. In addition there are several typographical errors in both the text and the scripting examples.

For those or us who like to read. This is a GOOD overview for those who can program to the basics of LSL (Linden Programing). I loved it.