HackerTube.runGood videos, with context.
Jonathan Blow on scripting languages
About this video
A 10-minute clip from a Jonathan Blow Twitch stream in which he argues that game engines do not really need separate scripting languages. He questions the value of embedded interpreters when the main language can do the job.
Why it appears in the archive
Cited in threads about Lua, embedded scripting, and game engines as a concise argument that scripting languages are redundant.
AI-generated summary and labels from the source dataset; verify important details against the video. Source & credits.
From the Hacker News discussion
Lua doesn’t really solve anything fundamental. It’s popular because it’s small and easy to embed. But embeddable interpreters, while fun pet projects, they’re redundant and trivial. Jonathan Blow has a great explanation of this [VIDEO] Write reusable libraries first, let people embed them into whatever scripting language/GUI app they want. Scripting languages, Linux distros, it’s all Pokémon cards.
Read original comment ↗There’s nothing about this that screams “this language needs to be created”. Call me a pessimist, but I’ve seen So many toy languages on HN. My advice is, if you don’t have any original ideas and want users, your best bet is to implement a subset of JS, that’s the route I’m taking. Jonathan Blow has a great talk on the redundancy of scripting languages in game engines. [VIDEO]
Read original comment ↗> I can guarantee you that a game will need a scripting language. Better get that done already. Is that really so certain? [VIDEO]
Read original comment ↗"Gaming engines are scriptable for a reason" - I'm sure I've heard the opposite opinion from respectable sources at least 2 times. Here's Jonathan Blow [VIDEO] I agree with the rest wholeheartedly.
Read original comment ↗