[BacklitVillain]

Hi, sorry if this is in the wrong place.

I just wondered if anybody could point me on the right paft to teaching myself some scripting and development etc for xbmc.

I spend a lot of time using every body elses hard work and feel like I would like to contribute a bit, but I don't really know where to start.

I have only really done a bit of VB before and thats only really for use on Acccess database at work, and a bit of basic web design (HTML/CSS/XML etc)

Hopefully somebody will be able to give me a good starting point and one day ill actually be able to contribute.

Thanks

[spiff]

1) learn python
2) learn by example

that's really the only way to go about it, as our documentation is rather lacking. there's a tutorial for plugin sources in the wiki.

[maruchan]

To expand on what Spiff said (as that truly is the only way):

If you're familiar with programming in another language, Python should be quite easy for you to pick up. When I started with add-ons, I began by writing a small, standalone Python script that would take a movie name the user name entered, search for it on IMDB using Google, load the IMDB page, and return links to the movie's poster JPG.

I suggest you do something similar. Forget about writing an add-on right off the bat; get familiar with Python's syntax. Once you have the basics of grabbing a webpage and pulling data from it, then check out the source code of your favorite add-ons. Maybe try adding a missing feature to one of them. It won't take long and you'll be ready to write your own.

There are lots of resources for learning Python. Simply searching for "python how to download html" or "python how to do something" will generally give you your answer.

[anarchintosh]

python can seem hard at first, but it get easier. i'm still awful at python but have somehow made a fairly good addon. you pick it up out of necessity to create your addon....

i agree with maruchan, googling is a really good way to solve those brick walls that you hit when beginning with python and xbmc addons.

this is dated, but still helpful.

[Marx1]

I'm learning too and I can give two links which aren't available in Wiki:
- documentation
http://trac.xbmc.org/ticket/10107
- python helper files for Eclipse/Pydev
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=79070&page=2

[cosmicr]

Here are my tips:

1. make sure you have something you want to create in mind. you can't learn blindly without knowing what you want to do.

2. old terminology:
script - a program
plugin - a video player

new terminology:
addon - a script or plugin, they are the same.

3. python is very simple. indentation is important(read: a requirement)

4. start with the simplest addon you can find (auto updater is a good one), copy and modify it (you will have to re-zip it initially and 'install from zip file')

5. have fun!