Can you shorten "GameObject.GetComponent(Script)" to a variable?

Questions & Answers
1

When visually parsing my scripts, my eyes just get totally jangled by the constant, long references to GameObject.GetComponent(Script), such as:

runnersObj.GetComponent(RunnerControlScript).GetBatterObj();

In my ideal world, I could write something like this:

var RunnerControl : scriptReference; // fake type for illustration purposes only!
RunnerControl = runnersObj.GetComponent(RunnerControlScript);
// later in code...
RunnerControl.GetBatterObj();

This would greatly beautify the code, IMHO.

Is this possible, and if possible, is it recommended?

2

This is not only possible, this is advisable as this will cache the result of the GetComponent instead of looking it up each time.

3

Try something like this:

var RunnerControl;
var runnersObj:GameObject;

function Start()
{
    RunnerControl = runnersObj.GetComponent("NameOfScript");
}

function Update()
{
    Debug.Log(RunnerControl.someVariable);
    RunnerControl.SomeFunction();
    // Other stuff to do with RunnerControl
}

Just remember to assign runnersObj in the editor.

4

Thank you, everyone.

It sounds like one question has a resounding yes: you can assign the results of a GetComponent call to a variable, making it easier to read (and update, if necessary).

However, I'm seeing two different answers on its impact. Eric5h5 says it will be 30-40x slower, Joshua says it will be faster because the results are cached. Both make sense to me.

Is there a deeper answer to this?