sending a variable to a text object

So I'm trying to figure out how to display variables ingame.

But i'm missing something because It gives me an error: NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object RayCaster.Update () (at Assets/Scripts/RayCaster.js:15)

 #pragma strict
 
 //import UnityEngine.UI;//do i need this? didn't seem to make a difference
 
 var hit : RaycastHit;//holds some of the properties of an object that is detected
 var output : UnityEngine.UI.Text;
 
 function Start () { }
 
 function Update () {
     if(Physics.Raycast (transform.position, transform.forward, hit, 10)) {//if there is something 10 meters forward from the current position, also store it in hit
         output.text = hit.transform.name;
     }
     else {
         output.text = "none";    
     }
 }

isn't output an instance of the Text object?

Also most people seem to be using C#, but Javascript seems nicer. Should I switch?