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Lua Quick Start Guide

You're reading from   Lua Quick Start Guide The easiest way to learn Lua programming

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Product type Paperback
Published in Jul 2018
Publisher Packt
ISBN-13 9781789343229
Length 202 pages
Edition 1st Edition
Languages
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Author (1):
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Gabor Szauer Gabor Szauer
Author Profile Icon Gabor Szauer
Gabor Szauer
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Toc

Scope

Like many other programming languages, Lua implements the concept of scope for anything that can be named (like a variable). A scope defines where in the program a variable can be used. Scopes are limited to the chunks they appear in. A chunk is just a section of code. Some languages call chunks blocks because they are represented by blocks of code.

Every Lua file that is executed is a chunk. This chunk can contain other, smaller chunks. Think of it as a hierarchical relationship. Such a relationship could be visualized as follows:

You can create a local chunk in a file by using the do keyword. The chunk ends with the end keyword. The following bit of code demonstrates how to create a local chunk in a file:

-- main file chunk is anywhere in the file

do
-- local chunk
end

do
-- a different local chunk
end

As mentioned earlier, scope refers to visibility. A chunk can access...

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