Lua Programming Examples

Lua Index

lua

mytable = setmetatable({key1 = "value1"}, {
   __index = function(mytable, key)
	
      if key == "key2" then
         return "metatablevalue"
      else
         return mytable[key]
      end
   end
})

print(mytable.key1,mytable.key2)

Sorting Tables

lua

fruits = {"banana","orange","apple","grapes"}

for k,v in ipairs(fruits) do
   print(k,v)
end

table.sort(fruits)
print("sorted table")

for k,v in ipairs(fruits) do
   print(k,v)
end

Insert and Remove

lua

fruits = {"banana","orange","apple"}

-- insert a fruit at the end
table.insert(fruits,"mango")
print("Fruit at index 4 is ",fruits[4])

--insert fruit at index 2
table.insert(fruits,2,"grapes")
print("Fruit at index 2 is ",fruits[2])

print("The maximum elements in table is",table.maxn(fruits))

print("The last element is",fruits[5])

table.remove(fruits)
print("The previous last element is",fruits[5])

Table Concatenation

lua

fruits = {"banana","orange","apple"}

-- returns concatenated string of table
print("Concatenated string ",table.concat(fruits))

--concatenate with a character
print("Concatenated string ",table.concat(fruits,", "))

--concatenate fruits based on index
print("Concatenated string ",table.concat(fruits,", ", 2,3))

Representation and Usage Table

lua

-- Simple empty table
mytable = {}
print("Type of mytable is ",type(mytable))

mytable[1]= "Lua"
mytable["wow"] = "Tutorial"

print("mytable Element at index 1 is ", mytable[1])
print("mytable Element at index wow is ", mytable["wow"])

-- alternatetable and mytable refers to same table
alternatetable = mytable

print("alternatetable Element at index 1 is ", alternatetable[1])
print("mytable Element at index wow is ", alternatetable["wow"])

alternatetable["wow"] = "I changed it"

print("mytable Element at index wow is ", mytable["wow"])

-- only variable released and and not table
alternatetable = nil
print("alternatetable is ", alternatetable)

-- mytable is still accessible
print("mytable Element at index wow is ", mytable["wow"])

mytable = nil
print("mytable is ", mytable)

Stateful Iterators

lua

array = {"Lua", "Tutorial"}

function elementIterator (collection)

   local index = 0
   local count = #collection
	
   -- The closure function is returned
	
   return function ()
      index = index + 1
		
      if index <= count
      then
         -- return the current element of the iterator
         return collection[index]
      end
		
   end
	
end

for element in elementIterator(array)
do
   print(element)
end

ipairs Function

lua

function square(iteratorMaxCount,currentNumber)

   if currentNumber<iteratorMaxCount
   then
      currentNumber = currentNumber+1
      return currentNumber, currentNumber*currentNumber
   end
	
end

function squares(iteratorMaxCount)
   return square,iteratorMaxCount,0
end  

for i,n in squares(3)
do 
   print(i,n)
end

Stateless Iterators

lua

function square(iteratorMaxCount,currentNumber)

   if currentNumber<iteratorMaxCount
   then
      currentNumber = currentNumber+1
      return currentNumber, currentNumber*currentNumber
   end
	
end

for i,n in square,3,0
do
   print(i,n)
end

Generic For Iterator

lua

array = {"Lua", "Tutorial"}

for key,value in ipairs(array) 
do
   print(key, value)
end

Array using Manipulating Indices

lua

-- Initializing the array

array = {}

maxRows = 3
maxColumns = 3

for row=1,maxRows do

   for col=1,maxColumns do
      array[row*maxColumns +col] = row*col
   end
	
end

-- Accessing the array

for row=1,maxRows do

   for col=1,maxColumns do
      print(array[row*maxColumns +col])
   end
	
end

Follow

Newsletter