Hi everyone! I’m completely new to programming and trying to build my first Discord bot, but I’m really stuck. I’ve been looking at tutorials online, but everything seems so confusing, and I don’t know where to start. What programming language should I use? Do I need any special tools or libraries? I’ve heard about things like discord.py and discord.js, but I’m not sure which one is better for beginners. Also, how do I connect my bot to Discord and make it respond to messages? I would really appreciate any step-by-step guidance or resources to help me get started. Thanks in advance for your assistance!
honestly discord.py is way easier if you dont mind learning python basics first. the syntax is super clean and theres tons of examples on github. just grab your bot token from discord dev portal, install discord.py with pip, and start with basic message events. took me like 2 hours to get my first working bot responding to commands
When I first ventured into creating Discord bots, I faced similar challenges. A crucial step was choosing a programming language and committing to it. I opted for JavaScript using discord.js, which aligned well with my web development experience. Both discord.js and discord.py are user-friendly for beginners, so feel free to choose whichever you feel more comfortable with. Make sure to set up your development environment: install Node.js for JavaScript, create a bot application through the Discord Developer Portal, and obtain your bot token. Understanding asynchronous programming, particularly async/await, was initially tough for me but ultimately vital. I suggest starting with simple commands, like a ping-pong interaction, before moving on to more complex features. The official discord.js guide offers solid insights that can be more helpful than some random tutorials.
From my experience starting out, I’d recommend beginning with Python and discord.py since the documentation is exceptionally well-written for newcomers. The most important thing I learned was understanding how events work - your bot essentially listens for specific events like messages or user joins and responds accordingly. After getting your bot token from Discord’s developer portal, focus on understanding the basic structure: client events, command handlers, and permissions. I made the mistake of trying to build complex features immediately, but mastering simple message responses and basic commands first saved me countless hours of debugging later. The discord.py documentation has excellent examples that walk through each concept gradually, which was invaluable when I was learning the fundamentals.