Top 5 Ways to Develop LSL Scripts for Second Life


So you have registered with Second Life and read some tutorials on Linden Scripting (I recommend the “Tutorial” and “Kan-ed: Using Linden Script Language” to start with). Now, you need to get the tools of the trade to get your LSL code going! There is a lengthy list of possible LSL editors, but here are my top choices.

5. Notepad

Trusted and proven reliable, many a great Second Life script has been jotted down or at least temporarily saved in this application. Second Life scripts are saved in objects which reside on Linden Lab’s servers - so when the internet connection goes away, so does your development. Having your scripts backed up in a text file is highly recommended in case the object gets deleted, is lost, or floats away!

4. Second Life Editor

It’s built in and there’s no extra downloads required. Simply go to a sandbox, right click on the region, select “Create”, and put an Object in. Then, go into the object’s contents and add a script. The built in compiler can be somewhat slow for large scripts, but doing these steps is inevitable for creating objects in Second Life. The obvious downside is when you have a large script that needs lots of testing, these steps become very time consuming. On the plus side, the code is kept safely on SL’s servers and by using groups you can allow multiple people to work on the code. However, there is no revision control or undo - so beware!

3. lslint

When used alone, this handy tool is one of the quickest ways of checking if an LSL script is syntactically correct. It simply checks variables and functions for validity and can even warn you if defined variables are not being used in the script. However, this program is console based only and therefore is quite limited in ease of use. On the plus side, it is incredibly tiny, allows you to work offline, and integrates quite nicely into other tools, such as Eclipse, with no modification. Of course, you will ultimately have to copy your LSL code into the Second Life Editor for testing and integration.

2. Byronstar-SL - Eclipse LSL Plugin

Eclipse is just a beautiful IDE tool and having an LSL plugin is quite a nice addition. Not only can you work on LSL scripts, but with additional Eclipse plugins, you can synchronize your Trac wiki, upload your scripts to an SVN using Subclipse, and develop Java, PHP, C++, <your favorite code here> too all in one nice package. The downsides are Eclipse isn’t for the light of heart - it is a professional tool for developers and the learning curve is the steepest among all the tools. It can be integrated with lslint to give very detailed errors in the code. The downside is it still doesn’t allow you to test code at all beyond syntax errors. However, if you plan on working on a team of cross-platform LSL developers and need a nice IDE that integrates well with a central code version repository, Eclipse is a great solution.

1. LSL-Editor

What a great application. Not only does it allow you to test your script for syntax errors while offline, it actually emulates Second Life and allows you to *run* your code. This includes llHTTPRequest and many other advanced functions, dialog boxes, and more! It has a very nice GUI interface for editing code complete with highlighting tips and IntelliSense-like functionality. The downsides are that this is a .NET application and if you’re running Linux, you might be out of luck (might run in WINE - not sure). Also, it lacks the integration that Eclipse provides, but honestly, it more than makes up for this loss with its advanced features. You’ll love the ability to both check and test your code.

Know a tool that has revolutionized your Second Life scripting that isn’t mentioned here? Please let me know!

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June 13th, 2007
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Nobody Fugazi
Posted on:
June 13, 2007 at 1:29 pm

I just use the LSL-Editor, which came in *real* handy with the recent asset server issues.

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
RobbyRacoon
Posted on:
January 29, 2008 at 11:51 pm

I tried the ByronStar-SL Eclipse plugin, and I’m very impressed. I love the Outline and code folding, and it seems quite nice.

I won’t be using it, however, as it doesn’t have two features I’ve come to absolutely rely on: It doesn’t seem to provide any lslint integration, which I use *constantly* when developing LSL scripts in Scite, and it doesn’t appear to have any way to set F1 or any other hotkey to look up the selected function on the LSL wiki, which I also am used to being able to do from within Scite. Both of those are absolutely critical features for me, and the ability to look up code examples, script delay, and other pertinent data on the LSL wiki through a single keystroke is much too convenient to give up.

Scite’s not much of a development environment (hell, it’s not even much of an editor, what the heck kind of editor has no horizontal scrollbar?), but I do at least get syntax highlighting, code folding, lslint integration, and easy lookups.

When ByronStar-SL includes those two features, I’ll switch in a heartbeat.

LSL-Editor looks interesting, but I already use Eclipse and Scite for so many other things that I’ll just stick with them until something comes along compelling enough justify having *yet another* IDE on my system (I already have more than 7 I can name off the top of my head).