Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Hy VS Construct 2

Compare Hy VS Construct 2 and see what are their differences

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Hy logo Hy

Hy is a wonderful dialect of Lisp that’s embedded in Python.

Construct 2 logo Construct 2

Scirra Construct is a 2D game development engine with a focus on building games visually.
  • Hy Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-30
  • Construct 2 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-21

Hy features and specs

  • Python Interoperability
    Hy seamlessly integrates with Python, allowing you to use the entire Python ecosystem while writing your code in a Lisp-like syntax. This interoperability makes it easier for developers familiar with Python to experiment with Lisp's syntax and ideas.
  • Lisp Syntax and Macros
    Hy provides Lisp's powerful macro system and syntax, enabling more expressive and concise code. The ability to create macros can lead to highly customizable and domain-specific solutions.
  • Readability
    For those familiar with Lisp, Hy offers increased readability due to its minimal syntax and symbolic expressions. This can lead to more straightforward reasoning about the code and reduced syntactic noise.
  • Compiles to Python
    Hy code is compiled to Python bytecode, allowing it to run on any environment where Python is available. This ensures good performance and compatibility with existing Python tools and utilities.

Possible disadvantages of Hy

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For developers not familiar with Lisp, Hy's syntax and concepts (like macros) can be difficult to grasp initially. This can slow down development time as developers need to learn new paradigms.
  • Limited Adoption
    Hy is not as widely adopted or supported as some other languages or even other Lisp implementations. This can lead to less community support, fewer third-party libraries written specifically for Hy, and potentially more difficulty finding solutions to problems.
  • Debugging Complexity
    Debugging in Hy can sometimes be more challenging because errors may occur in the compiled Python code rather than the original Hy code, which can complicate traceback and error understanding.
  • Macro Overuse
    While macros are a powerful feature, their misuse can lead to code that is hard to read and maintain. This can become a con if developers do not exercise restraint and best practices in their use.
  • Performance Overhead
    While Hy compiles to Python, the added layer of abstraction and translation may introduce small performance overheads compared to writing natively in Python, especially for performance-critical applications.

Construct 2 features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Construct 2 offers a drag-and-drop interface, making it accessible for users without programming skills to create games.
  • Fast Prototyping
    The visual scripting system allows for quick iteration and experimentation, enabling rapid development and testing of game concepts.
  • Cross-Platform Export
    Games developed in Construct 2 can be exported to multiple platforms including HTML5, Android, iOS, Windows, and more.
  • Extensive Documentation and Community Support
    Construct 2 has comprehensive documentation and an active community, which provides tutorials, forums, and asset stores that help in learning and improving game development skills.
  • Performance Optimization
    Construct 2 is built to optimize the performance of games running on various devices, ensuring smoother gameplay experience.

Possible disadvantages of Construct 2

  • Limited 3D Support
    Construct 2 is primarily a 2D game engine and lacks the capability to handle 3D game development efficiently.
  • Licensing Cost
    While there is a free version, more advanced features and export options require purchasing a license, which can be costly for some users.
  • Performance Overhead
    Games built with Construct 2 can have performance overhead compared to those developed with native code, which can affect the performance on less powerful devices.
  • Limited Customization
    While the visual scripting language is powerful, it can be restrictive for advanced users who need more control and customization over their game logic and performance.
  • Dependency on HTML5
    Construct 2’s primary export format is HTML5, which may not be suitable for all types of games, particularly those that require high-performance or native features.
  • Secondary Focus on Newer Engine
    Construct 2 is not the latest engine from Scirra; Construct 3 is its successor. Newer updates and features are likely to prioritize Construct 3, potentially slowing down the development and support for Construct 2.

Hy videos

HY-IMPACT muscle massager review (incredible)

More videos:

  • Review - Cleveland Launcher XL Hy-Wood Review
  • Review - HY Extracts (Jack Herer) Review

Construct 2 videos

Construct 2 - How To Make a Game - Review

More videos:

  • Review - Construct 2 = Easiest Game Maker EVER!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Hy and Construct 2)
Programming Language
100 100%
0% 0
Game Development
0 0%
100% 100
IDE
100 100%
0% 0
Game Engine
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Hy and Construct 2

Hy Reviews

We have no reviews of Hy yet.
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Construct 2 Reviews

The Top 10 Video Game Engines
What better than an HTML-based engine to wrap up the list? Construct 2 doesn’t hinge on your ability to code. Sign me up!
The Best 15 Mobile Game Engines / Development Platforms & Tools in 2020
Construct 2 is a HTML5 platform for creating 2D games. It is very easy to use as coding is not required and it has many features that will help you in developing visually appealing games in a short time. It also allows for multiplatform export so your project will be ready to be launched in different devices at once.
Source: thetool.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Hy seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 9 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Hy mentions (9)

  • Python's “Disappointing” Superpowers
    Hy: https://docs.hylang.org/en/stable/ I tend to stick to vanilla python though, mainly because Hy is too much of an hassle for my use cases. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • Why Lisp?
    Q: is there any game dev happening in Lisp? A: https://kandria.com/ and https://itch.io/jam/lisp-game-jam-2022 Q: how do I write a website with Lisp? A: https://lispcookbook.github.io/cl-cookbook/web.html#easy-routes-hunchentoot and https://www.gnu.org/software/guile/manual/html_node/Web-Examples.html Q: do I have to use emacs for developing Lisp? A: No, https://github.com/vlime/vlime and... - Source: Hacker News / almost 4 years ago
  • How trying new programming languages helped me grow as a software engineer
    I really like Hy because it's fully inter-operable with Python. But its documentation is insufficient for anything moderately complex, and its tooling support is pretty basic. If Hy were well documented and supported I'd use it for all my throwaway scripts and prototyping -- today I use Python for that. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Every programmer ever.
    You're looking for https://docs.hylang.org/en/stable. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Val on Programming: What makes a good REPL?
    I've been using the Hy REPL[0] whenever I've wanted to drop into a python REPL. The lack of whitespace formatting with Hy is great, but it still has access to all of python's libraries. [0] - https://docs.hylang.org/en/stable/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 4 years ago
View more

Construct 2 mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Construct 2 yet. Tracking of Construct 2 recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Hy and Construct 2, you can also consider the following products

CLISP - CLISP is a portable ANSI Common Lisp implementation and development environment by Bruno Haible.

Godot Engine - Feature-packed 2D and 3D open source game engine.

Racket Lang - Racket (formerly PLT Scheme) is a modern programming language in the Lisp/Scheme family, suitable...

GDevelop - GDevelop is an open-source game making software designed to be used by everyone.

Chicken - A portable and efficient cross-platform Scheme implementation that compiles to C.

Unreal Engine - Unreal Engine 4 is a suite of integrated tools for game developers to design and build games, simulations, and visualizations.