Customer Reviews

Scripting Recipes for Second Life

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book provides a very basic introduction to LSL scripting. Everyone of the scripts in the book can be obtained as freebies within SL and much more can be learned about LSL in the SL Wiki and various other online tutorials and references. Speaking of references, this book had none. One of the few reasons I keep programming books around is that its nice to be able to flip open a book and get a quick answer to a programming question. Well, forget it. This book has no reference section and a marginally useful index.

I liked this book a lot. This book is useful for both a beginner who wants to get started in the basics of LSL and also very handy for someone with scripting experience who wants a nice inventory of ready to use scripts that can be easily dropped onto an object.
For the beginner, the book starts out with an overview of the Linden Scripting Language (LSL) and descriptions of the most commonly used functions in LSL. The explanations are clear and contain examples for each newly presented concept.
The real value of this book though is in the wide array of useful scripts provided. When I started in SL, I bought various in world items which did things using scripts. I realize now that if I had had this book then, I could have made these objects myself, which at least for me is more fun than just spending Linden dollars for someone else's not modifiable way of doing something.

Here is a list of some of the scripts included in this book.
Buildings: Splashing water, Open door, Owner locked door, Mult-User lockable door, Teleport pad, Elevator
Particle Effects: Basic particle emitter, Chimney, Leaf generator, Jewelry, Explosion
Vehicles: Car, Boat, Helicopter, Super car
Scanners: Avatar radar, Notecard giver, Automatic door, Traffic scanner
Miscellaneous recipes: Avatar cannon, Analog clock, Weather station, Slide show, Notecard controller slide show, Announcer script, Online indicator
Commerce: Camping pad, Simple tip jar, Club tip jar, Vendor script
Rental Property: Rental script
Weapons: Basic gun, Multi-bullet gun, Bullets for the guns
Wearable Objects: Parachute, HUD parachute, Jet pack, Anti push bracelet

The cool thing I found from the book is that all of the example scripts have been implemented on objects and are freely available for copy/modify at the authors island in SL.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in writing scripts in SL (except perhaps a seasoned scripter who might find this book a little too intermediate).

When I first got this book, I was frustrated with it because it jumps deep into LSL and makes an assumption that you have a basic understanding -- it is not an introductory book. And to be fair to the book, it doesn't hold itself out to be an introductory book. If you are looking for a beginner book in LSL, get something else!

BUT, after I spent some time learning LSL through other sources (online Wiki!) I found that the book actually has become really useful to me as a way to understand LSL. In other words, don't make this your first book on LSL, but maybe make it your second.

Second Life's scripting language is a key to open endless delights, and there is no better way to learn than by studying scripts. Heaton gives a wide range of examples that can become the springboard for your own adventures. The book is probably comprehensible to the beginner and certainly liberating to the struggling intermediate scripter like myself References to on-line resources add focus to what you might find with the internet search engines. Recommended!

Exactly what I looked for. Simple examples that allow me to quickly get what I want and learn the language.