They are all iterator functions, used in generic for loops.
ipairs iterates through the integer keys of a Table, starting at 1 and stopping when the next consecutive integer key has a value of nil:
1 | local t = {"gradea", 245, false} |
2 | t[6] = "This string won't be reached" |
4 | for key, value in ipairs(t) do |
pairs and next are, effectively, the exact same thing. next is faster, slightly, since pairs uses next internally. They iterate through all members of a Table, but in an undetermined order (between server instances, that is):
02 | local t = {someStringKey = false, [24] = 16, [privateKey] = "swaggy", 1325, false, "anchored"} |
04 | for key, value in pairs(t) do |
09 | for key, value in next, t do |
These iterators work with Tables. I used 'random' data in my Tables, so sorry if that confused you.
ipairs works, effectively, like this:
2 | local t = {"gradea", 245, false} |
3 | t[6] = "This string won't be reached" |
5 | while t[index] ~= nil do |
That while loop will print the values of t using only consecutive integer keys, starting at 1.
In my Table t, keys 1, 2, 3, and 6 have defined values, so the while loop (and thus, ipairs), will print the values at t[1], t[2], and t[3] and then stop because t[4] == nil.
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