Comparison of Programming Languages

This is a comparison of the features and instructions of the three high-level programming languages offered by Unity: JavaScript, C#, and Boo.

Conventions of This Article

The bold is the literal code. The non-bold is interpreted by the reader. Statements in guillemets (« … ») are optional. tab indicates a necessary indent.

The following tables compare code differences of the Unity programming languages. See also the Comparison of Programming Languages for general information.

Features

The following tables compares major features of the Unity programming languages.

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
Paradigm(s)	imperative object-oriented functional generic reflective	imperative object-oriented functional generic reflective	imperative object-oriented functional reflective
Standardized Variation?	Yes	Yes, ECMA, ISO ECMA-334; ISO/IEC 23270:2006	No
Type Strength	strong, duck	strong	strong1
Type Safety	safe	safe	safe
Expression of Types	implicit with optional explicit typing	explicit	implicit with optional explicit typing
Compatibility Among Composite Types	?	name-based	?
Type Checking	static with optional dynamic typing	static with optional dynamic typing	static with optional dynamic typing

¹ Normally Javascript in Unity uses type inference to statically type all variables when possible, in cases where the type is not explicitly stated. Dynamic typing can be forced if desired, and, in certain circumstances, dynamic typing is used unless forced otherwise. Use of the "#pragma strict" directive disables all dynamic typing.

Type Identifiers

Integer

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
8 bit (byte) Signed	?	sbyte	sbyte
8 bit (byte) Unsigned	byte	byte	byte
16 bit (short integer) Signed	short	short	short
16 bit (short integer) Unsigned	?	ushort	ushort
32 bit Signed	int	int	int
32 bit Unsigned	?	uint	uint
64 bit (long integer) Signed	long	long	long
64 bit long integer) Unsigned	?	ulong	ulong

Floating Point

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
Single Precision	single	float	float
Double Precision	double	double	double
Arbitrarily Precise (bignum)	decimal	?	?

Other Types

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
Text Character	N/A	char	char
Text String	string	string	String
Boolean)	bool	bool	boolean
Object/Universal)	object	object	Object

Derived Types

Array

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
one-dimensional fixed size array	(type)	type[size]	type[size]
multi-dimensional fixed size array	?	type[size1, size2,...]	type[size1, size2,...] (note: currently these types of arrays can be created implicitly and used, but cannot be created explicitly)
one-dimensional dynamic size array	List	System.Collections.ArrayList or System.Collections.Generic.List<type>	Array or System.Collections.ArrayList
multi-dimensional dynamic size array	?	?	?

Other Types

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
Record Simple Composite Types	?	struct name {type name;...}	?
Enumeration Simple Composite Types	enum condition: tab item1 tab «item2 tab …»	?	?

Basic Unity-Specific Types

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
array	?	?	Array

Declarations

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
variable	name = initial_value	type name «= initial_value»;	var name «= initial_value»;
constant	final name = initial_value	const type name = value;	const name = value;
type synonym	synonym = typeof(type)	using synonym = type;	?

Flow of Control

Conditional Statements

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
if	?	<csharp>if (condition) {instructions} «else {instructions}»</csharp>	?
else if	?	<csharp>if (condition) { instructions } else if (condition) { instructions } … «else { instructions }»</csharp>	?
select case	?	<csharp>switch (variable) { case case1: instructions; «jump statement;» … «default: instructions; «jump statement;»» }</csharp>	?
conditional expression	N/A	condition ? valueIfTrue : valueIfFalse	?

Loop Statements

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
while	?	?	?
do while	?	?	?
for i = first to last	?	?	?
foreach	?	?	?

Exceptions

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
throw	?	?	?
handler	?	?	?
assertion	?	?	?

Other Flow of Control Statements

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
exit block(break)	?	?	?
continue	?	?	?
label	?	?	?
branch (goto)	?	?	?
return value from generator	?	?	?

Functions

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
calling a function	?	?	?
basic/void function	?	?	?
value-returning function	?	?	?

Type Conversions

Language	Boo	C#	UnityScript/JavaScript
basic type to basic type	?	?	?
string to basic type	?	?	?
basic type to string	?	?	?
complex type to string	?	?	?
complex type to complex type	?	?	?

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