Lua

A powerful, efficient, lightweight, embeddable scripting language.

When to Use

• Game Development (Roblox, WoW, Love2D)
• Embedded Systems
• Configuration scripting (Neovim, Nginx)
• Extending applications

Quick Start

print("Hello, World!")

function factorial(n)
  if n == 0 then
    return 1
  else
    return n * factorial(n - 1)
  end
end

Core Concepts

Tables

The only complex data structure in Lua. Used as arrays, dictionaries, sets, and objects.

t = { key = "value", [1] = "first" }
print(t.key)

Metatables

Allow changing the behavior of tables (e.g., operator overloading, inheritance).

Indices

Arrays are 1-indexed (start at 1, not 0).

Best Practices

Do:

• Use local variables by default (performance and scope)
• Use standard libraries where possible
• Understand table length operator # behavior with holes

Don’t:

• Pollute the global namespace
• Ignore nil (undefined variables are nil)

References

• Lua 5.4 Reference Manual