Re: Newbie questions regarding luasocket, tables

[roberto@... (Roberto Ierusalimschy)]

> In this case, I think the argument for having #t return the real table
> size isn't that it adds a feature, but that it removes an annoying
> special case, leading to a more regular and predictable language.

I don't think so. For instance, many programs use tables with both
"keys" and "indices", such as this:

  polyline = { color = "red", thickness = 4;
               {0, 0}, {3.5, 4.3}, ...
             }
    
When they iteract over the indices, they want the size of the array part,
not of the entire table.

Lots of people complain that #t does not handle holes in an array.
Returning the "real table size" (that is, the number of elements in the
table) would certainly not improve this situation.

-- Roberto