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01-19-12, 09:40 AM   #1
Jincks
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Lf tutor

I would like to learn to create addons. Mainly unitframes. If anyone that has a mic and skype is willing to give me a hand it would be greatly appreciated.
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01-19-12, 05:23 PM   #2
Phanx
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You're probably not going to find anyone with the time and patience to walk you through absolutely everything over Skype. Plus, you can't actually share code over Skype, and being able to share code you've written, and have someone share modifications they make to that code, is absolutely essential.

You will get much more help, and learn a lot more, if you just pick one thing to try to do, get as far with it as you can on your own, and then post your actual code and your specific questions on the forums, where you're not waiting on one single person's availability and are not limited to one single person's knowledge and experience.
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01-19-12, 06:10 PM   #3
Verttex
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You might want to pick up a book from Amazon on LUA coding; I have heard World of Warcraft Programming: A Guide and Reference for Creating WoW Addons is very good. (Amazon [Paperback],Scribd [Ebook])
Check out some other coding languages like BASIC or C or C++ to get the hang of it.
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01-19-12, 06:19 PM   #4
Nimhfree
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You might be able to get started by finding an addon that does something similar and examine it to determine what it is doing. You can then make modifications to it until you get something you want.
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01-20-12, 07:57 AM   #5
Jincks
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Thanks for the responses. Im taking a c++ class. I dont know if i should jump into lua while im learning c++ or after. Suggestion?
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01-20-12, 08:01 AM   #6
Consistency
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It doesn't really matter, Lua seems easier then Java/C# (which I'm currently learning on college).

I got myself a copy of the WoW programming book and I must say it explains everything nicely.
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01-20-12, 09:16 AM   #7
Othgar
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Personally I didn't really find the WoW Programming book all that helpful. I thinks it's best to start with an oUF layout you like and start tweaking things and changing things. Just keep a backup copy of a working version available so if you break something too bad you can always go back a step or two. I always have been more of a hands on learner though, and I do have the book around just for reference.
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01-20-12, 09:38 AM   #8
Consistency
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Originally Posted by Jincks View Post
Thanks for the responses. Im taking a c++ class. I dont know if i should jump into lua while im learning c++ or after. Suggestion?
After getting further in the book I'd say having basic java/c#/c++ knowledge should make this all way easier. As I had some trouble understanding some of the words used in the book (most likely because english isn't my main language).

Originally Posted by Othgar View Post
Personally I didn't really find the WoW Programming book all that helpful. I thinks it's best to start with an oUF layout you like and start tweaking things and changing things. Just keep a backup copy of a working version available so if you break something too bad you can always go back a step or two. I always have been more of a hands on learner though, and I do have the book around just for reference.
Sorry for going slightly offtopic here but you made an awesome job on your oUF layout.

Back on-topic, the method described above is even better to really practice but I think you should atleast read the first 7 chapters of the book to have a understanding of the LUA/XML basics rather than blindly copying/recycling code.

Tho, all-in-all LUA doesn't really seem like a hard language and could be learned quickly.
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01-20-12, 12:50 PM   #9
Coote
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Originally Posted by Jincks View Post
I would like to learn to create addons. Mainly unitframes.
Unitframes are one of the more difficult things to create from scratch, especially with little experience. I'd suggest starting out small, or look into trying to modify or make your own oUF layout. It's pretty much a set of unitframes, but much of the hard stuff is pretty much done for you in the core.
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Last edited by Coote : 01-20-12 at 12:51 PM. Reason: me no spel gud todai
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01-21-12, 07:02 AM   #10
Othgar
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Originally Posted by Consistency View Post

Sorry for going slightly offtopic here but you made an awesome job on your oUF layout.

Back on-topic, the method described above is even better to really practice but I think you should atleast read the first 7 chapters of the book to have a understanding of the LUA/XML basics rather than blindly copying/recycling code.

Tho, all-in-all LUA doesn't really seem like a hard language and could be learned quickly.

Thanks!

I've never been much for learning from a book myself, so getting right into the code and breaking things and then trying to figure out what I broke worked best for me. There's still a mountain of stuff I don't know and even having the books and wanting to learn I find I keep just digging into code. I just can't keep my focus on the books long enough to get anything of value from them really. Like I said I think they'll be a great reference if nothing else, but reading code and typing out the code they tell you to type out is a little dry for me. Everyone learns things differently though, and what worked for me probably won't work for 99% of the rest of the world... I always was a little odd
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