LSL 101/Built-in Functions in Focus

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Putting It All Together →

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LSL 101: The Wikibook

• A Gentle Introduction
• The Structure of a Script
  • Simple Script Skeleton
  • Comments, White-space and Formatting
• Events & Event Handlers
  • The touch start Event
• Variables
  • Strings and Simple Output
    • String Concatenation
  • Integers
  • Using Variables
    • Global vs Local Variables
    • Variable Initialization
• Functions
  • Functions That Return a Value

The End Game

• Creating a Script
• Compile Time Errors
• Logic
• Conclusion

Before we start looking at any LSL Functions, it is imperative that we discuss how the LSL documentation is laid out. There are distinct sections for different types of information, as a new user the sections you will want to read are:

1. Description - Contains a basic description
2. Newbie Notes - Contains a description and examples intended for new users - very few articles have this section, we haven't found anyone to write them.
3. Examples - Contains examples of how to use the function.
4. Caveats - Contains a list of edge cases (where things may break) and what happens when things break. This is the fine print which if you don't read you will likely get a nasty surprise later.
5. (Important) Issues - A list of LSL bugs (and feature requests) reported on JIRA. The list is likely incomplete but should give you a taste as to what might be wrong with the function.
6. Notes - Much more detailed description of edge cases and how to use the function. Examples will show you how, but Notes will describe when, why and more of the how.
7. See Also - Links to other articles, functions, events etc.
8. Specification - For when Caveats isn't enough and Notes is too general.

Caveats and Specification aren't always geared towards new users, the documentation also servers as reference and refresher material for advanced users. It's best to come back to these sections once you have an idea of what the function does. The layout is very much a balancing act of divergent interests.

There are some other sections, Deep Notes for example contains everything that really isn't all that important to the functionality. Typically technical implementation notes, only useful when discussing changing the implementation.