Introduction

A common question that gets asked is "where can I start to learn to code?" This is a knowledge base article which will attempt to help with this.

The first question you should ask yourself is what is Lua? Lua is a powerful light-weight programming language designed for extending applications. It is often used as a configuration language. Lua is not an acronym. It is the Portuguese word for "moon".

Where can I go for help?

After reading through these resources, if you still need help and assistance, please try getting on chat with us. Most of us are away, however if you ask your question and wait someone is usually able to help.

We also have a Knowledge Base which contains many articles about how to use the site, code, etc.

Editors

General Editors

• Notepad++ - A free source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several programming languages.
• Lua for Idea - A semantically aware editor inside a full IDE with support for SVN, git, and Hg. For more information on its features, or help on how to use it, please visit here.

Repositories

There are a bunch of repository specific knowledge base articles located here.

Resource Guides

General Lua

• Lua 5.1 Reference Manual
• Programming in Lua (First Edition) - A book written by the authors of the Lua programming language. The first edition is available free online and covers Lua 5.0. The second edition is available in print from most online bookstores, and covers Lua 5.1.

WoW Specific

• WoW Programming - A companion site and API reference for a book written by Cladhaire (jnwhiteh) and Gazmik
• WowPedia WoW API

Tutorials

WoW Specific

• Ace 3 Getting Started Tutorial