Re: Undefined variables returning nil

[petah <lua@...>]

On Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:57:53 -0600
William Sumner <prestonsumner@me.com> wrote:
> Perhaps I'm incorrect about target demographics. In the past, it's been publicly stated that Lua is intended for "non-professional programmers".

You're probably confusing "non-professional" with "accessible", as in soft-on-the-eyes-syntax / doesn't provoke a gag reflex from a newcomer (as, say, Perl would). Every now and then somebody complains about Lua's verbosity (requesting operators for ! ++ ? :) but it's really irrelevant.

I once rewrote an intern's Lua code using approx. 20x less code (5% of original size), mainly by replacing if/else snakes with the very tables you consider dangerous. That's a lot less characters, if typos are such a big concern.

Lua's implementation of tables & nil is not a bug or inconvenience you sidestep while holding your nose; it's a core feature you embrace. Maybe your discomfort comes from approaching them the wrong way.

-- p