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Create and Use Libraries
Libraries are scripts with functions that you can use in other scripts.
@parent js/language
Libraries are scripts with functions that you can use in other scripts. For example, game is a library of game-related functions that you can use in your scripts.
Benefits of using libraries:
- reuse code between scripts
- collaborate with other people on a project by combining scripts into a library
Add a library
To add a library to a script:
-
Open a script in the Touch Develop editor and then click
script(in the upper-right corner). -
Click
+add new. -
Click
library. -
Choose the library you want to use or search for a library (such as
game).
Once you've added a library to your script, you can use any of the library's non-private functions. Here's how:
- on the Code Keyboard click the button with the library's name (for example,
micro:bitandmicro:bit gameare library buttons). The functions in the library have a button on the Code Keyboard.
Create a library
Creating and publishing a script as a library is easy. Here's how:
-
Open a script in the Touch Develop editor, and then click
script. -
Click the script name to open the script properties.
-
Mark the
this script is a librarycheck box. -
Click
script. -
Click
publish.
Once a script is marked as a library and published, it's immediately available to other people.
Visibility
The following library items are not accessible by other scripts:
- data (global variables)
- functions marked as
private
If you want to access global library variables from other scripts, you need to create functions that pass values in and out of the library script.
Library and function documentation
Be sure to document the purpose of your functions and libraries. Add a comment at the beginning of a library to describe the purpose of the library.
Use comments at the beginning of your functions to describe the function's purpose. Comment text shows in the help area of the Code Keyboard when you insert the function.