AFRLme: Created page with "{| class="in" |- | class="i_arrow clickablecell" | < | class="i_norm clickablecell" | '''Index''' | class="i_arrow clickablec..."

2018-11-02T18:51:02Z

Created page with "{| class="in" |- | class="i_arrow clickablecell" | < | class="i_norm clickablecell" | '''Index''' | class="i_arrow clickablec..."

New page

{| class="in"
|-
| class="i_arrow clickablecell" | [[Basic_Lua:_Introduction|<]]
| class="i_norm clickablecell" | '''[[Basic_Lua:_Index|Index]]'''
| class="i_arrow clickablecell" | [[Basic_Lua:_Operators|>]]
|}

Here I am covering a few of the basic fundamentals of Lua script that I can't really create individual pages for. You will probably see most of these - in one context, or another - throughout the various pages of this guide.

== Print ==
The print function is used for printing messages to the log file or lua console & is useful for debugging your scripts & functions.
<syntaxhighlight lang="lua">
print("hello world") -- prints "hello world" into the log/console (ah yes how cliché of me, but it had to be done)
</syntaxhighlight>
== Variables ==
Variables are like keywords that you can use to store & access data. Variables in Lua script can be local or global in scope, & unlike most other programming languages, they do not require you to specify their type when creating them as variables can be overwritten at any time with new data.
<syntaxhighlight lang="lua">
a = 1
</syntaxhighlight>
== Concatenation ==
Concatenation is essentially the joining of two or more strings & is represented by two full stops like so '''..'''
<syntaxhighlight lang="lua">
a = "hello"
b = "world"

print(a .. " " .. b) -- prints "hello world" - we had to add " " to create a space between the 2 words
</syntaxhighlight>
== Global vs Local ==
Global & local refers to anything from variables, to tables, to functions. The difference between global & local is that local only works inside of the script or function that it was created in, whereas global can be used throughout multiple scripts.

Global is often used for functions, tables & variables that need to be accessed by multiple scripts, or from various different locations.
<syntaxhighlight lang="lua">
local a = 1 -- only accessible in this script

a = 1 -- can be accessed from anywhere

function return_n(n)
local a = n -- only valid inside of this function but can be returned outside of function
return a
end
</syntaxhighlight>
{| class="ts"
|-
| Quick note: ''you need to be careful when using global conventions, that you do not use the same instance in other scripts, as this would be considered cross-polluting & may break your script because you would be overwriting the existing data that the variable, or function contained.''
|}
== Comments ==
=== Single line comments ===
Can ''only'' be placed on their ''own line'' or at the ''end'' of a line.
<syntaxhighlight lang="lua">
-- this is a single line comment
i = 10 -- comment placed after working code
-- comment place before code; i = 10 -- notice how the code is also commented out?
</syntaxhighlight>
=== Multi-line comments ===
Can be placed anywhere in the script & allow you to write comments over multiple lines.
<syntaxhighlight lang="lua">
--[[
this is a multiple line comment
I can go on & on & on
& on & on
& on.
]]

local i = 2 * --[[ this is a comment ]] 2
print(i) -- would print 4 to the log (2x2)
</syntaxhighlight>
=== Nested multi-line comments ===
Allow you to comment out entire blocks of code, even if they already contain multi-line comments, thus preventing existing multi-line comments from ending the nested comment.
<syntaxhighlight lang="lua">
--[=[
this is a nested comment
see how --[[ we can include ]]
a multi-line comment inside of it?
]=]

--[[
this is what would happen if we were to use
a regular multi-line --[[ comment ]]
i = 10
]]
</syntaxhighlight>
{| class="in"
|-
| class="i_arrow clickablecell" | [[Basic_Lua:_Introduction|<]]
| class="i_norm clickablecell" | '''[[basic_Lua:_Index|Index]]'''
| class="i_arrow clickablecell" | [[Basic_Lua:_Operators|>]]
|}{{toc}}

Basic Lua: Basics - Revision history

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