Revision Difference
From_Lua_to_CSharp#529952
<cat>Code.Misc</cat>
<title>From Lua to C#</title>
# What is this guide
This is meant to give an idea of the major differences between Lua and C#.
# Comments
```lua
-- Lua comments start with two minus signs
--[[
Lua multiline comment
example
--]]
```
```csharp
// C# comments start with two slashes, like most other languages
/*
C# multiline comment
example
*/
```
# Global Variables
```lua
-- you can define globals anywhere in Lua
globalVar = 100
```
```csharp
public class MyClass
{
// in C# globals need to be in a class
public static int GlobalVar = 100;
}
```
# Variable Types
```lua
-- variables in Lua don't have a static type and can store any data
local a = 100
a = "Hello"
a = function() print( "Hi" ) end
```
```csharp
var a = 100; // translated as "int a = 100;" because 100 is an int
a = "Hello"; // error: can't assign a string to an int
```
# Type conversion
```lua
local a = 123
local b = tostring( a ) -- "123"
local c = tonumber( b ) -- 123
```
```csharp
var a = 123;
var b = a.ToString(); // "123"
var c = int.Parse(b); // 123, will throw an exception if 'b' isn't int-ish
// operator 'as' converts an object reference or returns 'null' on failure
var vehicle = new Car() as Vehicle; // downcast Car reference to Vehicle
var car = vehicle as Car; // upcast Vehicle reference to Car
```
# Numbers
```lua
local a = 100
a = 5.5
a = -300.1
```
```csharp
// integer types are sbyte, byte, short, ushort, int, uint, long, ulong
int a = -300;
uint b = 333333;
// decimal types are float, double, decimal
double d = -500.888;
```
# Strings
```lua
local str = "Hello"
local str2 = 'Hello2'
local multilineStr = [[
Hello
Multiline
]]
print(#str) -- 5, string length
local concated = "I have " .. 3 .. " apples!"
local formatted = string.format( "I have %d apples!", 3 )
```
```csharp
var str = "Hello";
var singleChar = 'a'; // single quotes are for a single character, not a string
var multilineStr = @"
Hello
Multiline
"; // putting '@' before a string literal makes it a verbatim string literal
Console.WriteLine(str.Length); // 5, string length
var concated = "I have " + 3 + " apples!";
// {0} and {1} here correspond to the order of value arguments
// argument number 0 is '3' and argument number 1 is '2'
var formatted = string.Format("I have {0} apples and {1} oranges!", 3, 2);
// putting '$' before a string allows interpolating values into it using '{value}'
var interpolated = $"I have {3} apples!";
```
# Collections
```lua
local stuff = {
1, 2, 3,
"Oh", "Hi", "Mark",
{ myFunc = function() end }
}
```
```csharp
var numbers = new int[3] { 1, 2, 3 };
var strings = new List<string> { "Oh", "Hi", "Mark" };
var functions = new Dictionary<string, Action>
{
["myFunc"] = () => { }
};
```
# Member Access
In Lua anything is accessible from anywhere as long as you have a reference.
```lua
-- myFile.lua
myTable = {
field = 100
}
```
```lua
-- otherFile.lua
print( myTable.field ) -- 100
```
In C# things can be **public**, **private**, **protected** and **internal**.
```csharp
// MyClass.cs
public class MyClass
{
public static void PublicMethod() { ... }
protected static void ProtectedMethod() { ... }
private static void PrivateMethod() { ... }
}
```
```csharp
// OtherClass.cs
public class OtherClass : MyClass
{
public static void Test()
{
MyClass.PublicMethod(); // OK
MyClass.ProtectedMethod(); // we inherit from MyClass so OK
MyClass.PrivateMethod(); // error: PrivateMethod is private
}
}
```
# Arrays
<validate></validate>
# For Loops
##Lua⤶
In Lua there are two **for** types, numeric and generic.
```lua
-- numeric
local str = ""
for i=1,5 do
if (i ~= 5) then
str = str .. tostring(i) .. ", "
else
str = str .. tostring(i)
end
end
print(str) -- outputs "1, 2, 3, 4, 5"
```
The generic for loop allows you to traverse all values returned by an iterator function.
```lua
-- generic
-- ipairs() iteriates only through numbers indexes
local str = ""
local a = {"a", "b", "c", key = "e", key2 = "f", "d"}
for i,v in ipairs(a) do
if (i ~= #a) then
str = str .. v .. ", "
else
str = str .. v
end
end
print(str) -- "a, b, c, d"
```
```lua
--[[
pairs() iteriates through all, but number indexes first and then all keys.
However while the number indexes are in order, the key indexes are not. Lua does not guarantee the order of the key indexes.
However, you can reinsert keys into a table and use table.sort()
but it can not sort the way on how they were written up in the table.
So don't rely on the position if the keys have a weird name.
--]]
local str = ""
local a = {"a", "b", "c", key = "e", key2 = "f", "d"}
for k,v in pairs(a) do
if not (next(a,k) == nil) then
str = str .. v .. ", "
else
str = str .. v
end
end
print(str) -- can output "a, b, c, d, e, f" or "a, b, c, d, f, e"
```
⤶
## CSharp⤶
In C# for loops work differently.