#pragma strict and GetComponent()

Question

I am learning unity using tutorials. I learned the #pragma strict when using GetComponent generates this error: Assets/scriptObjA.js(12,69): BCE0019: 'foundVar' is not a member of 'UnityEngine.Component'.

MonoDevelop-unity adds the #pragma strict to my java script as default. is not used in the tutorials, is it a good practice to use it?

When I remove #pragma strict from the script, the code works correctly. Should I be concerned? Is there a better technique to create/access global variable/functions?

I have parsed the code down from the tutorials down to this example: The error is generated accessing a variable found in a script that is a component of a prefabsceneManager from an object called prefabObjA. Here are the two scripts:

scriptSceneManager.js

 var foundVar : float = 20;
 
 function Start () {
 }
 
 function Update () {
 }
 
 function FoundMe () {
 }

scriptObjA.js

 var varK         : int = 3;
 var lookFor     : GameObject;
 
 function Start () {
 
 }
 
 function Update () {
     print( lookFor.transform.GetComponent("scriptSceneManager").name );
     print( lookFor.transform.GetComponent("scriptSceneManager").foundVar );
 
 }

I am assigning the variable lookFor in the interface with the prefabSceneManager that has scriptSceneManager.js as a component. Thanks in advance for your help/advice.

Answer 1

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Answer by Eric5h5 · Apr 09, 2012 at 12:52 AM

Yes, you should use #pragma strict. It's required when publishing to non-desktop platforms (iOS etc.) anyway, so if you intend to do that at some point, it's best to be used to it. As for the actual problem, never use strings with GetComponent. It's slower and makes GetComponent return Component instead of the actual type.

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Kleptomaniac · Apr 09, 2012 at 01:27 AM 0

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Adding on from what Eric said, just so you know, #pragma strict disables dynamic typing and will throw compiler errors if it finds any. In case you didn't know, dynamic typing is a feature of the compiler which allows it to cast the most appropriate type based on how you use a variable. This is an unnecessary waste of memory allocation, however. You should in all cases use static typing. As this states, however, sometimes you can accidentally do it. That's where #pragma strict comes in. So, yes, it is best to get into the practice of using #pragma strict. Even if it's kind of irritating cleaning up errors which could be avoided, your game will most definitely come up better in the long run. :)

deckbottom · Apr 09, 2012 at 02:02 AM 0

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Thanks! I had just tried that. Working great. I cannot believe the time spent to get to the #pragma strict solution, I wish I had posted earlier.

Kleptomaniac · Apr 09, 2012 at 02:31 AM 0

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Please don't post comments as answers. :)

Eric5h5 · Apr 09, 2012 at 02:42 AM 0

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@$$anonymous$$leptomaniac: That's incorrect. Dynamic typing is not a compiler feature, it's a run-time feature, which occurs when a variable is given no type. The appropriate type is figured out on the fly, which is about 20X slower than static typing, but I don't know that there's any memory penalty. Example:

 var foo;

Type inference is a compiler feature, in which a variable is statically typed based on the value supplied. This is identical to manual static typing, and has no penalty of any kind (though I suppose it takes fractionally longer to compile). Example:

 var foo = Vector3.zero;

It's perfectly acceptable to do that, as long as it's clear from the value what the type is (such as the case above), and it doesn't conflict with #pragma strict at all.

Kleptomaniac · Apr 09, 2012 at 02:51 AM 0

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O$$anonymous$$ thanks for that clear up Eric. I tend to give a lot of erroneous information. :D

However, I think that it's probably best at least for consistency and just in case there are some problems with #pragma strict, that people should use static typing wherever possible. Better safe than sorry?

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