Those picking up Unity will likely have a lot of questions about the Unity Editor. How do I navigate it? What is a good development workflow using the Editor as my IDE? Can I circumvent the editor and just do things programmatically? This article will give you a brief tour of the Unity Editor, helping orient you around the environment. We’ll explore how keeping everything in code can work, and why you might want to fight that urge.
This is Unity for Software Engineers, a series for folks familiar with software development best practices seeking an accelerated introduction to Unity as an engine and editor. We already covered foundational concepts, high-level best practices, and the Input System. The series is specially tailored for those who learn best as I do: starting with first principles and working your way upwards.
A Tour of the Editor
The Unity Editor offers a customizable layout of dockable windows. You’ll find many hidden gems buried in the dozens of windows Unity provides. In this article, I’ll focus on a few key windows you’ll need to understand when getting started:
