Table Literals

Like in Lua, tables are delimited in curly braces.

some_values = {1, 2, 3, 4}

Compile

Unlike Lua, assigning a value to a key in a table is done with : (instead of =).

some_values = {
  name: "Bill",
  age: 200,
  ["favorite food"]: "rice"
}

Compile

The curly braces can be left off if a single table of key value pairs is being assigned.

profile =
  height: "4 feet",
  shoe_size: 13,
  favorite_foods: ["ice cream", "donuts"]

Compile

Newlines can be used to delimit values instead of a comma (or both):

values = {
  1, 2, 3, 4
  5, 6, 7, 8
  name: "superman"
  occupation: "crime fighting"
}

Compile

When creating a single line table literal, the curly braces can also be left off:

my_function dance: "Tango", partner: "none"

y = type: "dog", legs: 4, tails: 1

Compile

The keys of a table literal can be language keywords without being escaped:

tbl = {
  do: "something"
  end: "hunger"
}

Compile

If you are constructing a table out of variables and wish the keys to be the same as the variable names, then the : prefix operator can be used:

hair = "golden"
height = 200
person = { :hair, :height, shoe_size: 40 }

print_table :hair, :height

Compile

If you want the key of a field in the table to to be result of an expression, then you can wrap it in [ ], just like in Lua. You can also use a string literal directly as a key, leaving out the square brackets. This is useful if your key has any special characters.

t = {
  [1 + 2]: "hello"
  "hello world": true
}

Compile

Lua tables have both an array part and a hash part, but sometimes it’s useful to make a semantic distinction between the two. You can use [ ] instead of { } to explicitly declare a table as an array, doing so will prevent any key-value pairs from being written inside it.

some_values = [1, 2, 3, 4]
list_with_one_element = [1, ]

Compile