Managing complexity in Blueprints

[anonymous_user_db03eb5f]

@Xarol;180131

Thank you very much for your explanation. That helps a lot.

One thing I was confused about is which is the best approach if I want to make some utility functions. For example, let’s say I want to a function/macro to find the nearest instance of a given class with a certain property (e.g., find the nearest instance of the cat class with the hungry property set to true). I know how to do this with a macro (I think). Is there any downside in using a macro instead of a function? For example, will it significantly bloat my code or run slower?

Can I do this with a blueprint function? If so, would I just make a blueprint class which inherits from actor, and put the FindHungryCat function along with other utility functions in there?

Basically, I want to know if I should always use macros or if/when/how to write a blueprint function instead.

Thanks a lot.

Sorry for the thread necro, but I was about to post this exact question (when to use macros vs. functions - in a best practices sense). There has been some concern on our team over some cyclical dependency/constant recompilation issues with blueprints, and both macro libraries and function libraries have been brought up as culprits. I’d love to get some official guidance on the benefits/pitfalls of heavy usage of macros and functions. Is there anything we should watch out for? How much is too much? etc.

Thanks!