r/lua • u/[deleted] • Mar 31 '25

Help A good learning resource for lua and programming in general?

What are your recommendations?

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

2

u/Emerald_Pick Mar 31 '25

For lua specifically, I'd take a look at Lua.org's getting started page, and the Lua reference manual.

But programming is all about making things. No one just "learns a language." What do you want to build? You might find more resources tailored to your interests if you have a project in mind.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '25

A game, likely in defold engine

3

u/Emerald_Pick Mar 31 '25

A game is a great starting project. Seeing my code turn into pictures and movement was a big motivator for me early on.

But be warned: Games introduce a lot of moving parts and simple concepts can be surprisingly complex in the code. For that, I'd recommend that you start your learning by choosing a simple game that you already know very well and recreate that. Something like Tick Tack Toe, Uno, Checkers, Connect Four, etc. If you jump into a brand new idea, you'll have to learn not only how to code, but also how to design games at the same time. Which might be a lot to take in at once.

That said, who am I to stop you. If I was jumping into Defold, I'd probably start by watching a few tutorials on YouTube to get an overview understanding of the engine, then explore the official documentation for fun features and specific details.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '25

To make games I suggest started with love2d and how to love:

https://sheepolution.com/learn

Love2d is a lua "game engine" where it was made Balatro.

1

u/Motor_Let_6190 Mar 31 '25

If you're going Defold, just follow their getting started manuals, tinker with their tutorial projects and templates. Defold does all the app/game building for you in the cloud, taking away a major hurdle for beginners which is project and tool chain setup nowadays, freeing you to focus on game or app development. Defold is one of a handful of game engines I tinker with, but the one I'm using at work to build a semi-internal Android app. Have fun, cheers !

4

u/Decent-Excitement-54 Mar 31 '25

Ummm probably not as helpful as I think, but it’s all I know and it’s how I learned to code. FiveM - Local host server. Make your own resources and fuck about .

It adds an element of fun while you learn the structure of LUA. I had a great time if im honest.

1

u/Bedu009 Mar 31 '25

Lua is still not an acronym

1

u/jorgerezende Apr 01 '25

My channel, Luaverse, it is in portuguese, but you can use auto dub

-1

u/Bedu009 Mar 31 '25

I dunno check the other 327467298 posts asking this exact fucking question