apart from the second being quicker to write, any performance or logic difference?
thank you for your help
The difference is scope. Functionally, they are no different.
The function is actually defined not in GameObject, but rather in Object, from which GameObject is derived. You can call the explicit version “GameObject.Find…” from anywhere in your code that includes the UnityEngine namespace. However, you can only call it without the GameObject prefix (implicitly) in a class that derives from Object. Since MonoBehaviour derives from Object, and most Unity scripts are MonoBehaviours, most can make the call implicitly with no problem.
There is not one. Is the same function, just some functions by the MonoBehaviour you can write quicker.
Like Instantiate and GameObject.Instantiate,
Destroy and GameObject.Destroy,
StartCoroutine and gameobject.StartCoroutine,
etc.