Lua Language

[Glitch]

Does anyone know it and would you care to discuss it with me? I'm learning it at the moment and it seems like a strange mix of higher and lower level programming, all thrown into a blender set to chunky.

[STM]

There's a reference manual on their website if that helps: http://www.lua.org/docs.html

[Crashpunk]

There is a huge section about lua scripting on the Facepunch forums.
http://www.facepunch.com/forums/65
It might help a lot.

Personally, I know nothing about lua. Sorry

[Glitch]

I'm currently learning it from Lua.org

It's an odd language... which I suppose makes it quite apt

[STM]

Is it as diverse as C++ or Java though?

[OANST]

I'm fluent in Luau.

[Scraby]

Lua is a nice programming language,you can make nice games with it,well the sad bit is i knew how to program in lua but with years my knowlege of it decreased into nothingness

[RoryF]

I believe LUA was the programming language used for the random level generator for Doom called 'Oblige'.
I think it contained some open source LUA code used to write it, it may be of use to you...

[Mudokon_Master]

I'd like to learn LUA, it seems really interesting. A whacky sort of language it is, seems like fun but I'm still trying to learn C++ and GML.

[Phylum]

GML leads more naturally into Java, but I'd recommend learning Python first. It means you can get your head around object orientation without being swamped with Java's stupidity.

[Mudokon_Master]

Hm, thanks for the tip actually. I've really been meaning to learn Java at some stage, it's good that I'm not too far into C++. I'll give Java a shot when I'm confident with GML.

[moxco]

GML leads more naturally into Java, but I'd recommend learning Python first. It means you can get your head around object orientation without being swamped with Java's stupidity.

Objection! Python is a pain-in-the arse in that whitespace is a part of it's syntax. It is difficult to read and (as it's a rather unique property) annoying to write.

[Phylum]

I don't mind Python because it makes more sense than other languages. I will admit that the whitespace syntax is annoying.

[Nate]

Objection! Python is a pain-in-the arse in that whitespace is a part of it's syntax. It is difficult to read and (as it's a rather unique property) annoying to write.

That's what makes it easy to read! No more scrolling up and down files to work out how I've nested my braces.


I just started coding with Python a month or two back. I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to a beginner, because any other language after Python is going to be painfully difficult. But I'd recommend it to any experienced programmer; shit is so easy and quick to do in it.

[Glitch]

I dabbled in python whilst in high school. I've mostly just been gently trying to learn C and C++ via osmosis (Stacking a bunch of books around me and hoping I somehow absorb their knowledge through my pores).

I'm pretty fluent in Actionscript 3, which in turn is very similar to javascript. I'd recommend AS3 to anyone, simply because it's easy to learn and you can start seeing visual representations of your code very quickly, which in turn makes it feel more rewarding.

I'm beginning to get my head around the Lua way of thinking, it's just it's strangely cobbled together way of managing object orientated programming puts me off balance. I think it is definitely a C derivative.

[STM]

I think for the university course I want to do we learn Python, Java and then C++.

Python seems to be quite a universal language because its basic and apparently easy to learn. C++ is a bitch though.

[Phylum]

Python's good because it's not stupid like Java or C++. You can learn the basics of OO programming without worrying about the little idiosyncrasies that make other languages challenging.

Having to state the implicit parameter in methods is a bit annoying though.

[Glitch]

I wouldn't say C++ was stupid; just some of the higher level stuff takes some contemplation before it starts to make sense. I found the whitespace thing in Python a little frustrating, but not hugely so.

[STM]

Worst thing of all is finding out how to begin programming, where do you start and is there anything you need to know before you wade through your iostreams? That's the £1,000,000 question that's so far taken me two years to try and work out.

[Phylum]

Buy a goddamn book on the language you're trying to learn. I spent a few months not really learning Java through online tutorials, so I bought Java Concepts by Cay Horstman. It's well written and I'm actually making decent progress now.

[STM]

Ah, I bought a C++ book by...a guy...err, I dunno, I'm terrible because I'm the kind of person that tries to sprint before he can even crawl, or like even, shuffle along on his arse.

I think I want to start with an easier language than C++ though. Especially when I'm just about average at maths.

[Glitch]

Scrabtrapman, get yourself a copy of flash CS5.5, sit down, and do this tutorial:

http://www.flashmagazine.com/Tutoria...r_with_away3d/

you will also need to download away3D too, make sure you get the version the tutorial suggests, just because it will make life easier for you in the long run.

Once you've ran through that tutorial you should have some nice knowledge on how to use AS3 and Away3D.

The only thing you can do from then on is practice. Something I had a hard time getting my head around was classes. There's a good tutorial for that on the net which I will find for you once you need it.

[STM]

Is flash a good place to start? I was thinking python because it directly applies to my future uni course (God willing I get the grades x_x).

[Wil]

Looking forward to that classes tutorial. It took me a while to get my head around it - not the syntax, but how to use it - what should be made an object, what should be separate and what should be a decendant.

I put so much thought into it that by the time I started actually using it, it came quite naturally. How well I did objectively remains to be seen.

[Paul]

Python's good because it's not stupid like Java or C++. You can learn the basics of OO programming without worrying about the little idiosyncrasies that make other languages challenging.

Having to state the implicit parameter in methods is a bit annoying though.

How very dare you! C++ is gods programming language :P

Edit: And comparing C++ to Python makes no sense

[Varrok]

I've got a bit of experience in Pascal language (just a bit - they teach it on our IT lessons in school), it's easy to learn if you ask me, but gosh, if you look at code structure, it looks really dumb sometimes... And I don't think it's any useful for a future programist - I mean: are there any cool modern apps written in Pascal? I know only hedgewars.org

[Phylum]

Is flash a good place to start? I was thinking python because it directly applies to my future uni course (God willing I get the grades x_x).

Ok, better idea. Wait until you start your uni course. That way you won't be bored as fuck when they start teaching you things you already know. They will also do a much better job of teaching you that you will do of teaching yourself.

[Glitch]

Scrabtrapman, don't spend too long just thinking about it. Python is worth learning, but it takes a while until you can see any fruits of your labours. Flash and AS3 is good because it gives you the chance to see your code doing something very quickly. Seeing that you're accomplishing things on the screen makes it easier to carry on.

Learning AS3 may not be the most widespread of languages (although with flex and air it may become much bigger) but it's concepts are pretty much universal in terms of Object orientated programming. Learning something easy to learn will set you up for the harder stuff to come.

Ok, better idea. Wait until you start your uni course. That way you won't be bored as fuck when they start teaching you things you already know. They will also do a much better job of teaching you that you will do of teaching yourself.

No one has ever come close to teaching me better than I can teach myself. All I ever did at university was show up long enough to get the assignments, then turn up in the last week to hand them in. That sounds like bragging, it's not. I just find that listening to other people tell you to do it their way stifles your drive to accomplish the task at hand.

If you make your own mistakes, the lessons stick much more readily.

[Nate]

I mean: are there any cool modern apps written in Pascal? I know only hedgewars.org

I know a few people working in Delphi, which is the object-oriented version of Pascal. Some of them are using it professionally. I suspect none of them would count as 'cool' by your standards, though.

No one has ever come close to teaching me better than I can teach myself. All I ever did at university was show up long enough to get the assignments, then turn up in the last week to hand them in. That sounds like bragging, it's not. I just find that listening to other people tell you to do it their way stifles your drive to accomplish the task at hand.

If you make your own mistakes, the lessons stick much more readily.

All true, but my theory is that while it's possible to teach yourself to become a programmer, it's impossible to become an expert programmer on your own. If you have a top-notch professor at university, that can help, but mostly it comes from experience and working with other coders.

[Glitch]

Well yes, but that's what forums are for. I wouldn't be at the level I am at AS3 if I hadn't spent so much time on the Kirupa forums helping other people.