Topics

The course is organized along traditional computer science ways of teaching programming languages, which use a bottom-up approach (variables, statements, control structures, encapsulation blocks, full-blown programs). What you learn will easily carry over to other prog. languages such as Python, Javascript, Processing, Ruby, etc.

Here's what we'll cover in our course:

• Class 1: variables, operators
• Class 2: expressions, flow control
• Class 3: procs, commands, scripts
• Class 4: UI, tools
• Class 5: more tools

Why (still) MEL? Why not Python??

Answer: MEL is more intimately tied to Maya, Python isn't. So for a lot of applications, MEL is simpler and more direct.

But Python does have these great advantages:

• more widely popular [so books, online tutorials, pages are more plentiful]
• it is a simple as well as powerful language [very few languages can claim to be both]
• it is possible to bring in loads of functionality developed by other Python developers [via 'modules']
• better UI facilities

So after you learn MEL well, your next goal should be Python.