WoW:Lua: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 21:19, 2 August 2025

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Lua is a general purpose programming language, and is used as a scripting language in many popular video games such as World of Warcraft.

Lua comes from the Portuguese word for "moon" ^[1]. Lua was developed by a team at PUC-Rio, the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, including Roberto Ierusalimschy, Waldemar Celes and Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo^[2].

In WoW Lua is used for interface programming and customization. WoW uses a custom subset of Lua version 5.1, which should suit most addon maker's needs. More information about Lua can be found on the official Lua FAQ.

Programming references

The following are places to look for information on the Lua language itself. For these it helps if you are already familiar with programming in general.

Official Reference Manual - Contains Lua syntax and basic commands, but is a heavy, highly-technical read for those without a programming background. See Luai for and alternative way of browsing the manual.

Programming in Lua - Definitive Lua guide by Roberto Ierusalimschy. See also the online version.

lua-users - A Lua user group with a Wiki. Includes a FAQ, tutorials and extended help on many topics. The group also hosts a mailing list with past archive, and a IRC channel #lua at irc.freenode.net. Their LuaLinks page is very extensive.

Lua Editors

While any text editor can edit Lua files, many contain additional programming or even Lua specific features.

See Lua editors

Using Lua for WoW

Related projects include:

WoWBench - Aims to be a near-complete emulation of the WoW environment.
Lua 5.1.1 WoW - Distribution created by cogwheel that includes everything needed for addon development

References

↑ About, PUC-Rio, 2016-06-18, PUC-Rio, [1].
↑ Authors, Lua Authors, 2016-06-18, PUC-Rio, [2].

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Lua''' (from the Portuguese word for '''moon''') is the scripting language used by ''World of Warcraft'' for [[Interface Customization]]. Only a subset of version 5.1 of the official Lua specification is implemented, and should suit most [[AddOns|addon]] maker's needs. More information about Lua can be found on the official Lua [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaFaq FAQ].
+{{wowlua}}
+Lua is a general purpose programming language, and is used as a scripting language in many popular video games such as [[w:c:wowwiki:World of Warcraft|World of Warcraft]].
-==Programming References==
+Lua comes from the Portuguese word for "moon" {{ref2|Lua|PUC-Rio|publisher=PUC-Rio|title=About|date=2016-06-18|work=Lua |link=//www.lua.org/about.html|accessdate=2016-06-18}}. Lua was developed by a team at PUC-Rio, the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, including [[Roberto Ierusalimschy]], [[Waldemar Celes]] and [[Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo]]{{ref2|Lua|Lua Authors|publisher=PUC-Rio|title=Authors|date=2016-06-18|work=Lua |link=//www.lua.org/authors.html|accessdate=2025-05-01}}.
-These are not so many guides or tutorials, but a place to look for information on the Lua language itself.  The reader should be somewhat familiar with programming in general.
-;[http://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/ Official Reference Manual] : contains syntax and basic commands, but is heavy-going for readers without a programming background ([http://pgl.yoyo.org/luai Luai]: alternative way of browsing the manual)
-;[http://www.inf.puc-rio.br/~roberto/book/ Programming in Lua] : the definitive Lua guide by [http://www.inf.puc-rio.br/~roberto/ Roberto Ierusalimschy]. [http://www.lua.org/pil/ Online version]
-;[http://lua-users.org/ LUA-Users] : LUA user group with a [http://lua-users.org/wiki/ Wiki] which includes a [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaFaq FAQ], [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaTutorial tutorials] and [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaDirectory extended help on many topics]. The group also hosts a mailing list (with past [http://lua-users.org/lists/lua-l/ archive]) and a IRC channel, [irc://irc.freenode.net/lua #lua at irc.freenode.net]. Lastly, their [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaLinks LuaLinks] page is very extensive.
-==Lua Editors==
+In WoW Lua is used for [[UI Customization|interface programming and customization]]. WoW uses a custom subset of Lua version 5.1, which should suit most [[AddOns|addon]] maker's needs. More information about Lua can be found on the official [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaFaq Lua FAQ].
-While any text editor can edit Lua files, many contain additional Lua specific features.
+[[File:Lua-Logo_128x128.png|Lua Logo]]
-Please see the list of [[Lua editors]].
+== Programming references ==
+The following are places to look for information on the Lua language itself. For these it helps if you are already familiar with programming in general.
-==Using Lua for World of Warcraft==
+* [http://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/ Official Reference Manual] - Contains Lua syntax and basic commands, but is a heavy, highly-technical read for those without a programming background. See [http://pgl.yoyo.org/luai Luai] for and alternative way of browsing the manual.
+* [http://www.inf.puc-rio.br/~roberto/book/ Programming in Lua] - Definitive Lua guide by [http://www.inf.puc-rio.br/~roberto/ Roberto Ierusalimschy]. See also the [http://www.lua.org/pil/ online version].
+* [http://lua-users.org/ lua-users] - A Lua user group with a [http://lua-users.org/wiki/ Wiki]. Includes a [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaFaq FAQ], [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaTutorial tutorials] and [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaDirectory extended help on many topics]. The group also hosts a mailing list with past [http://lua-users.org/lists/lua-l/ archive], and a IRC channel [irc://irc.freenode.net/lua #lua at irc.freenode.net]. Their [http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaLinks LuaLinks] page is very extensive.
+== Lua Editors ==
+While any text editor can edit Lua files, many contain additional programming or even Lua specific features.
+See [[Lua editors]]
+== Using Lua for WoW ==
 Related projects include:
-* [[WoWBench]]: aims to be a near-complete emulation of the WoW environment
+* [[WoWBench]] - Aims to be a near-complete emulation of the WoW environment.
-* [http://luaforge.net/projects/lua-wow Lua 5.1.1 WoW]: distribution created by cogwheel that includes everything needed for addon development
+* [http://luaforge.net/projects/lua-wow Lua 5.1.1 WoW] - Distribution created by cogwheel that includes everything needed for addon development
-==See also==
+== References ==
-* [[Lua variable scoping]] guide
+{{Reflist}}
-* [[Lua functions]] available in the World of Warcraft API
-* [[User Defined Functions]] written by WoWWiki contributors
-* [[Lua object memory sizes]]
+== See also ==
+* [[Lua variable scoping]] - Guide for Lua scoping rules
+* [[Lua functions]] - Functions available in the World of Warcraft API
+* [[User defined functions]] - Useful functions written by addon authors
+* [[Lua file]] - File format for a Lua file in a WoW AddOn
+* [[Lua object memory sizes]] - Treatise on memory in Lua
+* [[World of Warcraft API]] - Lists global API functions provided in WoW
 [[Category:Interface customization|Lua]]
 [[Category:Lua functions| Lua]]
 [[Category:Glossary]]