Lua Quick Start Guide

Storing values

Tables store values; a table is a relational data structure. This makes the table similar to a dictionary in other languages. To store a variable in a table, use the following syntax:

table[key] = value

The following example demonstrates how to make a table, store a value with the key x, and how to retrieve that value:

tbl = {}tbl["x"] = 20i = "x"print (tbl["x"])print (tbl[i])

The key of a table can be any type (even another table!), except for nil. This makes the following code valid—hard to read, but valid:

tbl = {}tbl["x"] = 10tbl[10] = "x"print ("x: " .. tbl["x"])print ("10: " .. tbl[10])

If you use a string key for a table, you can access it with the dot syntax. This syntax allows you to access the same data, but is easier ...