Online Lua Editor and Code Runner

Free online Lua editor with real-time execution, console output, and standard library support. Perfect for learning Lua, testing scripts, and practicing game development.

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Features

Lua Execution

Execute Lua code directly in your browser

Console Output

Real-time console output with print support

Standard Library

Access to Lua's standard library

Error Handling

Clear error messages with line numbers

Metatable Support

Full metatables and metamethods support

Code Sharing

Share Lua code snippets with others

Frequently Asked Questions

How to get started with Lua?

Let's start with Lua basics:

-- Basic output
print("Hello, World!")

-- Variables and types
local name = "Lua"
local number = 42
local isTrue = true

-- String concatenation
print("Value: " .. tostring(number))

-- Functions
function greet(name)
    print("Hello, " .. name)
end

greet("Programmer")

Our editor provides real-time execution and feedback.

How to work with tables in Lua?

Learn Lua's powerful table data structure:

-- Dictionary-style table
local person = {
    name = "John",
    age = 30,
    skills = {"Lua", "Python"}
}

-- Accessing values
print(person.name)      -- Using dot notation
print(person["age"])    -- Using bracket notation

-- Array-style table
local numbers = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

-- Iterating through tables
for i, v in ipairs(numbers) do
    print(i, v)
end

-- Table length
print("Length:", #numbers)

Practice these table operations in our editor.

How to use Lua metatables?

Explore Lua's metatable functionality:

-- Create a simple vector type
local Vector = {}
Vector.__index = Vector

function Vector.new(x, y)
    return setmetatable({x = x, y = y}, Vector)
end

-- Add metamethod for addition
Vector.__add = function(a, b)
    return Vector.new(a.x + b.x, a.y + b.y)
end

-- Create and use vectors
local v1 = Vector.new(1, 2)
local v2 = Vector.new(3, 4)
local v3 = v1 + v2

print(v3.x, v3.y)  -- Output: 4 6

Common metamethods:

__index: Table lookup
__newindex: Table update
__call: Function call
__add, __sub, etc.: Arithmetic operations

How to handle errors in Lua?

Learn error handling patterns:

-- Basic error handling with pcall
local status, err = pcall(function()
    error("Something went wrong!")
end)

if not status then
    print("Error caught:", err)
end

-- Using assert
local function divide(a, b)
    assert(b ~= 0, "Division by zero!")
    return a / b
end

-- Advanced error handling with xpcall
local function errorHandler(err)
    return debug.traceback(err, 2)
end

xpcall(function()
    error("Custom error")
end, errorHandler)

Practice error handling in our safe environment.

How to use Lua modules?

Create and use Lua modules:

-- mymodule.lua
local M = {}

-- Public function
function M.greet(name)
    print("Hello, " .. name)
end

-- Private function
local function internal()
    print("This is private")
end

-- Module initialization
function M.init()
    internal()
    return true
end

return M

Using the module:

local mymodule = require("mymodule")
mymodule.init()
mymodule.greet("Lua")

Test modular code in our editor.

How to work with Lua coroutines?

Understand cooperative multitasking with coroutines:

-- Create a coroutine
local function producer()
    for i = 1, 5 do
        print("Producing:", i)
        coroutine.yield(i)
    end
end

local co = coroutine.create(producer)

-- Resume the coroutine
while true do
    local status, value = coroutine.resume(co)
    if not status then
        break
    end
    print("Consumed:", value)
end

-- Check coroutine status
print("Status:", coroutine.status(co))

Practice cooperative multitasking with our coroutine support.