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08-08-05, 07:46 AM   #11
Beladona
A Molten Giant
 
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Join Date: Mar 2005
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LUA is one of the simplest languages you can learn. So if this is the first programming language you are trying to learn, then by all means go for it. Many of us here are willing to assist in any way we can to help make it a simpler prospect.

The only thing that you must remember is as follows:

LUA is very open in terms of how you use it. Usage and syntax is not nearly as strict as something like PHP or other languages that many of us here already know. As a result most of us with any type of previous programming experience already have the "Programming Sins" under control. We know how to structure our code, and how to add delimiters where they belong, even though LUA doesn't always HAVE to have them. This is a double edged sword however for anyone learning LUA for the first time with no previously known languages. Because the usage and syntax rules are fairly lax, you can learn LUA without really having huge or broad issues. You can create a woprking script rather quickly. At the same time however, simple errors that other languages would balk at, LUA will just ignore and work anyway, which means you would be considered a "sloppy coder" in any other language. If you were to try to apply your LUA knowledge to another language, and thus learn it, you might find yourself frustrated very quickly.

This is why having previous programming knowledge is such a huge boon to LUA development. You know the mistakes that can be made already, and tend to avoid them inherently. LUA really is very similar to other languages such as JAVA, so again you can easily pick it up if you already know those other languages. The lack of proper learning material hurts new programmers as well, and I can only hope that some day a newbie to programming will document his journey as he learns (and publish it, thus helping other new learners.) Those of us that picked it up so easily due to previous programming knowledge would be hard pressed to make such documentation, because we are basing our learning and advancement on previous knowledge that you do not have, thus our documentation would be nearly useless to you...

This is why the majority of us often say to just look at the blizzard code. I know this is never the answer you want to hear, but this really is how most of us picked it up, for better or worse...
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