Cide, LUA Learning

guice · 01-17-05, 02:30 PM

Where did you pick it up? and did you use an IDE when you were first learning it? I'm interested in getting to know the language, but IDE's are a problem. Don't think I found any real IDE except for some SF project that wasn't done, but showed "promise".

*Edit -- Can a mod move this to LUA Scripting? I just realized there was a spereate forum for that.

Cide · 01-17-05, 04:05 PM

Well, I've always been good at programming(I know(more or less) PHP, ASP, Flash AS, mIRC script, LUA, C++, HTML), so I got a little help from that. I started learning LUA when our fansite wanted to make a UI mod. What I did was to read the interface files Blizzard has written. LUA is a really easy language to learn too, if you have previous experience in programming. All in all, it took me about a week to get a good grip on LUA

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Goatus · 01-17-05, 04:07 PM

Well i personaly started from reading through lua manual (http://www.lua.org/manual/5.0/) but honestly it didn't help much. Maybe it is only me but i found that manual rather complicated and all it gave me was some basic info about lua.

Then i moved to orginal blizzard lua scripts (just use blizzard interface customization tool to unpack scripts from mpq files (http://www.blizzard.com/support/wow/?id=aww01669p) and existing addons. Lua is similar in many aspects to many programing languages which i had learned previously, so it was pretty easy. Just read lua scripts from some small adons and small interface parts like durability frame or player frame (leave action bars at the end because i think they are most complicated) and then start experimenting with what you have learned.

Another good idea is just copypasting some things from blizzard xml and lua files then changing their properities and names and position and then playing with them. (That is how i started enchanted durability addon which you may BTW download it is commented almost line by line so it should be helpfull also ^^)

Well few advices from me:

-Don't be afraid to experiment you can't actually break anything and if something goes wrong just delete your interface folder.

-For some quick script testing i found macro thingie in game is quicker than instantly going to editor and back to wow

-/script ReloadUI(); is your friend ;p

-if you use some blizzard function play with it first so you know what all arguments are for and what it returns

-(http://www.wowwiki.com/Interface_Customization) is very helpful

Good Luck

BTW im still ui customization noobie
BTW2 i guess you read tutorial in ui customization forum in us forums :]

Edit: I use EditPlus 2 and it is very good you can find link to it and to lua syntax file in tutorial (ui customisation forums)

guice · 01-18-05, 12:30 AM

Well, I've always been good at programming(I know(more or less) PHP, ASP, Flash AS, mIRC script, LUA, C++, HTML), so I got a little help from that. I started learning LUA when our fansite wanted to make a UI mod. What I did was to read the interface files Blizzard has written. LUA is a really easy language to learn too, if you have previous experience in programming. All in all, it took me about a week to get a good grip on LUA

More or less the same way. Never picked up Flash or ASP though. I do, however, have a very strong programming background. I do like learning new languages, thus why I was trying to look for some kind of LUA IDE. That way you're not forced to use the WoW game (BIG app) just to test a small script.

Well i personaly started from reading through lua manual (http://www.lua.org/manual/5.0/) but honestly it didn't help much. Maybe it is only me but i found that manual rather complicated and all it gave me was some basic info about lua.

Same boat. Went there and then realized that's just a reference site. Can't learn off that.

I think O'Reilly has a book or two out on LUA. Then again, from a quick search on their site, maybe not. /ponders

Svarten · 01-18-05, 08:49 AM

LUA is such a simplistic script language that if you have done any programing in just about any script/program language you can pick this one up easily. The major problems with LUA learning is that you have to come up with other ways of doing things, since it lacks so many chnctions that you get used to in other languages

My background comes from UNIX world, like many others. I'v been working as a systemadministrator for over 15 years so script coding comes natural to some extent, just have to bother doing it.

Since I have always loved RPGs and played ALOT of MMORPGs though the years, WoW UI creation/modification came as a great fun for me, I actualy enjoy fiddling with the UI mods as much as I do playing the game itself!

I did some UIs for EverQuest and from that perspective I can only say that WoWs system is a bliz! You can do virtualy anything in this system, I just wish they'd let us have some kind of IO functions aswell, I can see the SavedVariables.lua file becoming a monolith a year after release, it wont be possible to work that way when you have to read a 2Gb file into memory af login

Anyways, Anyone who done any programing in any language can do this, noone should feel they can't learn it, it is realy easy, LUA have just a few functions build in and WoW API don't alove to any extensions.

Cheers,
Svarten

Random · 02-23-05, 06:57 PM

Well, all I know is Visual Basic and I'm having a bit of difficulty here. I did accomplish a tiny little addon that hides the petbar, but I had tons of help and it took me 3days

Im trying to make an addon now that toggles pet actions on certain events but still having trouble. Is there maybe a really good tutorial on LUA anywhere?

EricTetz · 03-22-05, 06:32 PM

I've known Lua for years, and have used it for scripting my own applications. It's small, fast, has great data description capabilities, and is easy to read. And despite seeming "simplistic" (as Svarten puts it), it's a deceptively powerful language that gets a lot of mileage out of a few language features (like associative arrays, first class functions, metamethods, coroutines, etc) and supports a wide variety of programming styles.

Anyway, I was stoked to discover that WoW uses it. I wrote a few AddOns on Sunday to try it out (QuestQuery: text search of quest log, and AutoReply: answering machine for tells) and Lua makes it easy as pie.

The best source for information on Lua is lua.org or lua-users.org. There are also a few Lua books available now. Programming in Lua was written by one of Lua's designers.

I do all my coding (whatever the language in Vim), an extremely powerful programming editor that supports syntax highlighting for Lua and about 300 other language.

TinyImps · 01-14-10, 03:20 PM

At this time I like to thank you to the authors to all the wonderful addons. It's truly amazing what imagination will lead you (@blizzard's limit). I wish I know the in and out of lua but it's never too late to start learning for fun and curiosity. But I do love to seek out how to change the game's UI like all the fans and to creators. I am not saying those Mods are not good but I just find them very static where moving health bars and action bars there and there make up a new interface. I DO have seen some Mods out there are very original to their customizations where everything were rewritten. Now I would love to see more of these. I love to see something amazing what blizzard will allowed to make UI more fun and entertained to the eyes with (most important of all) informative of the events. Well, I think I'd better stop there before I loose myself or confuse the rest of you. Thank you and be safe!