Lua

Lua (from the Portuguese word for moon) is the scripting language used by World of Warcraft for Interface Customization. Only a subset of version 5.1 of the official Lua specification is implemented, and should suit most addon maker's needs. More information about Lua can be found on the official Lua FAQ.

Programming references

These are not so many guides or tutorials, but a place to look for information on the Lua language itself. The reader should be somewhat familiar with programming in general.

Official Reference Manual

contains syntax and basic commands, but is heavy-going for readers without a programming background (Luai: alternative way of browsing the manual)

Programming in Lua

the definitive Lua guide by Roberto Ierusalimschy. Online version

lua-users

Lua user group with a Wiki which includes a FAQ, tutorials and extended help on many topics. The group also hosts a mailing list (with past archive) and a IRC channel, #lua at irc.freenode.net. Lastly, their LuaLinks page is very extensive.

Author Resources

Main article: UI FAQ/AddOn Author Resources

• Lua editors - List of editors to write Lua code.
• WoWBench - Now-defunct project to emulate WoW.
• Lua 5.1.1 WoW: distribution created by cogwheel that includes everything needed for addon development

Patch changes

• Patch 2.0.1 (2006-12-05): Upgraded to Lua 5.1.1

  Previously upgraded from Lua 4.x to Lua 5.0 some time between the beta and early retail versions.
  

See also

• Lua variable scoping guide
• Lua functions available in the World of Warcraft API
• User Defined Functions written by Wowpedia contributors
• Lua object memory sizes
• World of Warcraft API - lists all functions provided by Blizzard.