So I am really interested in getting into making plugins for sponge. I have a great idea and want to actually make it happen, but the problem is I don’t know how to do that. How can I learn to program plugins? I know there are plenty of tutorials for things like bukkit, but not really for sponge. Any advice is appreciated, thanks!
First off all, learn Java. After you know that you can begin to learn how to program using Sponge as a buildpath. Alot of what you need can be found in the docs and scattered around the forum.
Those tutorials are now obsolete. Also, plugins working yesterday might not be working today because of the Java 8.
Not to put a dampener on your spirit, but I cannot stress enough the importance of learning java, and proper usage of it, before coding a plugin or using any large external API (such as sponge). If you only look at examples associated with sponge, then you will only learn how to code a particular subset of java associated with sponge. Now, there is nothing wrong with the sponge API itself, but it makes a terrible places to start. Indeed, I myself experienced just how bad it can be to start at such a place, my first Java project was modding minecraft, which resulted in some bad practices within myself, to say the least. I didn’t develop the necessary skills or obtain much knowledge about Java itself until much later, and indeed it would have been monumentally easier for me to learn the semantics and concepts associated with Java before I dove into such a project. So I warn you, do not learn Java through Sponge, or another API, instead think up and choose a few small projects that you can work on, and follow them through, this way you can learn the semantics of Java, and how to use it, without muddying the learning process with a non-vanilla platform.
Check out the official java tutorials here
Suggestions for small projects:
- A small calculator
- A drawing, such as a house, drawn through java’s Graphics
- A primitive ChatBot
- A file writer/text editor
- A way of storing data in a file
All of the above will give you ample knowledge in certain areas in java, so long as you follow them through and complete them.
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I am very happy you’re linking to the java tutorials. They are very good for starters. As far as finding questions and such, you’ll almost always find answers on StackOverflow. And of course, don’t be shy to ask for some tips on how to make certain code better by posting a snippet on the forums.
And remember: There’s millions of ways to do something, but far fewer ways to do something right (or optimally).
Some similar topics I found on these forums