How To: Lua named arguments

Several programming languages let you create functions with named parameters called arguments. Named arguments are basically arguments that you can target using a name. As an example, in C# you can write this:

CalculateBMI(123, 64);

...but you can also write it like this:

CalculateBMI(weight: 123, height: 64);

By naming arguments, you improve readability. It also gives you more freedom as you're not forced to write arguments in a specific order and you may even leave arguments out (if they're marked as "optional".)

Named arguments in Lua

Lua doesn't offer such a system directly. However, you can use a table to apply this technique. In LunaLua there are several functions which accept named arguments. The signature for those functions are always the same:

function foo(table namedArgs)

To call this function you can write this:

foo {bar = "Hi", baz = 4}

...or you can use an alternative order:

foo{baz = 4, bar = "Hi"}
foo{qux = 10, baz = 4, bar = "Hi"}
foo{bar = "Hi", qux = 10, baz = 4}

In this example foo can accept named arguments:

• bar (A string value)
• baz (A number value)
• qux (A number value [Optional value])

You probably noticed that there are no parentheses used to call the function. If you only have one argument, and it's a table or string literal, the parentheses are optional.