I've just started to fiddle around with modules, and I'm wondering whether there's a difference between doing
function module:foo()
print("Hello World!")
end
and
function module.foo()
print("Hello World!")
end
They both seem to do the same thing when called from a server/local script. Is there a difference, or is it just preference? And if there is a difference, when do you use which?
Basically, calling a method by using : causes lua to pass self as the first argument.
Self is the object you're invoking the method on, so if you do let's say game:Destroy(), lua passes game as self.
Consider this example:
local obj = {}
obj.hi = function(foo, bar)
print(foo)
warn(bar)
end
obj.hi("hello", "world") --> hello world
obj:hi("hello", "world") --> table: 0x12345 hello
As you can see, the obj table is passed as self, that is the first argument of the function.
As Expodo said, using the method syntax will automatically define self as the table the function is in.
function foo:bar() print(self) end is syntactic sugar for function foo.bar(self) print(self) end
So when you want to use self you use the colon, otherwise use the dot?
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1 comment
Thanks.