coding style (lua)

lua style guide

this is a work in progress! please add to it, request clarification, point out discrepancies, dispute, &c.

formatting

• 2-space indentation
• double quotes for strings
• snake_case for variables, modules and functions
• capitalized names for metatables representing classes: ParamSet, ControlSpec, Control
• function foo() is preferred to foo = function()
• use colon operator as separator for instance methods (Midi:event)
• use dot as separator for class methods (Midi.add)
• separate function arguments with a comma and a space: foo(a, b, c)

local variables

use local variables and functions where possible. a script shouldn't declare global variables, for example:

local tab = require 'tabutil' -- good
pattern_time = require 'pattern_time -- bad

-- bad
baz = "module-scoped variable"
function foo()
  bar = 1
  print(bar, baz)
end

-- good
local baz = "module-scoped variable"
local function foo()
  local bar = 1
  print(bar, baz)
end

links

http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaStyleGuide