What You Should Know Now — and What's Next

What You Should Know Now

• Variables, types, strings, and operators — and why only nil and false are falsy
• Tables as arrays, dictionaries, and objects
• Functions, closures, multiple returns, and variadic functions
• String patterns for searching and parsing
• Metatables, metamethods, classes, and inheritance
• Modules, error handling with pcall and error, and files
• Iterators and coroutines
• Environments, sandboxing, weak tables, and performance
• Lua versions and LuaJIT, and embedding Lua in C
• Lua in games (LÖVE, Roblox), Neovim, Redis, and Nginx

What Should You Learn Next?

• Your host platform in depth — LÖVE or Defold for games, Roblox Studio and Luau, Neovim's API, or OpenResty — Lua is usually learned for something.
• C — C is Lua's implementation language; knowing it lets you embed Lua and write fast native modules.
• Python — Python for general-purpose scripting, data work, and automation outside embedded environments.
• JavaScript — JavaScript shares Lua's dynamic, prototype-based design and runs the web.

Build Something

Pick a host you enjoy — a game engine, your editor, or a server — and build something useful in it: a small game, a plugin, or a script that automates a chore. Share it, and read other people's Lua code in the same ecosystem.