The English

1.c4,... is a good opening. if you play 2.g3,... you avoid some options that black has.

one of the major points of this opening is when or if you play d3 or d4. In some defenses like the KID I found better results by playing d4 and transposing into the fianchetto variation for white.

Don't treat the opening as a system. Against 1...e5, 2.Nc3 invites a Reversed Rossolimo with 2...Bb4 and 2.g3 invites an early 2...c6.

A decent resource for lines that focus on 2.g3 with be the book "The Dynamic English" by Anthony Kosten.

But like what are the main ideas

a) black plays e5 and you have a type of reverse Sicilian. but not exactly.

b) black plays whatever defense that he normally plays against 1.d4. but not exactly because white has not committed his d pawn to d4 yet and might not ever.

c) black plays c5 and it is the symmetrical English.

d) black plays moves like c6, b6, d6, or e6 with potential to transpose into a possible d pawn type defense depending on play.

The main idea is that 1 c4 e5 is a reverse Sicilian Defense, so it makes sense to play the English opening as white if you play the Sicilian Defense as black.
Another point is that you can avoid the Grünfeld Defense and force black into a King's Indian Defense.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1070932 
Another point is that you can transpose to a Sicilian Defense, Maroczy Bind after 1 c4 c5.

1) Develop your pieces 2) Fight for the center 3) Play against every defense that black plays against 1.d4 and choose to transpose into that defense or find a way to make the game a little different. 4) Play with and against pawn structures like the Maroczy Bind and Isolated pawns.

If you want more, go to youtube and look up videos on the English opening. Then get yourself a database and a game collection of games that feature the English opening. Start playing some games and analyzing those games. If you want advice on how to improve your play, start posting your games on the forum and you will find people more than willing to help.

I believe Botvinnik Setup to be the superior version of the English Opening since it's rarely played, has a grip on the center, and according to "The Iron English", it also has an attack - pushing the f-pawn.

It looks like a Stonewall, except your queen's bishop isn't miserable.

That is not something that you will get legitimate answers from asking a bunch of noobs on chess.com.

The better question is your first one, what resources. I would suggest Carsten Hansen's books. He has 3 of them. The Full English, which explains everything. Then he has more theoretical works on 1...e5 and the Symmetrical English that came maybe 2 years ago as reprints (with editing of errors) of his works from 1999 (1...e5) and 2000 (Symmetrical).

I would read the Full English first. It is NOT a repertoire book. It covers all the options. Go through them and then play what makes the most sense.

David Cummings wrote a book in like, 2002 or 2003, on the Symmetrical English, but highly theoretical. Another good source AFTER the Full English.

Marin's 3 books and Cummings's book from the mid-2010s are good, but repertoires, and so very limiting. I use Marin's books for a couple of lines, but that's it.

A big decision you will have to make is what to do when the English is avoided. After 1.c4 e6 or 1.c4 c6, both followed by 2...d5, you have to decide whether to play the QGD/Slav (2.Nc3 and 3.d4) or the Reti (2.Nf3 and 3.b3 or 3.g3).

Hope this helps.

And yet the two openings couldn't be any more different.

Sicilian - 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3. Notice that White played d4 on move 3 and has a slight space advantage with his e-pawn. Black spends a lifetime trying to get in ...d5.

English with 1...e5 - Simon Williams has a pair of DVD's on the English (Repertoire for White, not complete) in which he advocates the central variation of the Four Knights English. 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Ne5 9.f4 Ng6 (9...Nxc4 10.e4! +-) 10.Bxf6 Qxf6. Notice Black does not get a space advantage like he does in the line with 4.g3 because he has been unable to get in ...d5 (a moves Williams is specifically out to avoid by Black), whereas 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 and Black has more space.

By playing 4.d4 instead of 4.g3, it makes this compared to the Sicilian like apples and oranges!

Okay, thanks

@10

This is a Sicilian Defense reversed:

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1937849

By the way Botvinnik who played the English 1 c4 thought 1 c4 e5 was inappropriate,
as the Sicilian Defense 1 e4 c5 would be overpowered with an extra tempo.

You think what you want to think. Call it what you want.

The openings themselves, overall, play nothing alike. You could cherry-pick one line (i.e. The Classical Dragon) from one game where the extra move is irrelevant, but in the long run, they are nothing alike. Try playing the Yugoslav Attack with Black - Dare ya! Or in the 4 Knights, if White plays 4.d4, you ain't playing ...d5 anytime soon. In the Sicilian, White plays d4 on move 3!

One important theme with the English is you must know how to improvise or transpose to maintain the advantage.

Otherwise, black equalizes very quickly and easily.

As previously mentioned, the Botvinnik is a system in the English but only has it place under certain circumstances.