Track 2 · Pro Path

OOP in Lua: classes via metatables

Lua does not have classes. It has tables and a one-line trick called setmetatable that lets you fake them well enough to ship. This lesson teaches the canonical class pattern, single-level inheritance, and, just as important, when to skip OOP entirely and just use a plain table.

You'll learn: setmetatable, __index = self, constructor pattern, : vs . calls, inheritance via base class
Time: ~22 minutes
Prereqs: Lessons 5 (tables) and 6 (functions)
Outcome: You can write a Vehicle class with a PoliceVehicle subclass and know when to throw it away

BEFORE YOU START

Build it

Make the resource folder

The server has one folder for this lesson.

Inside your server's resources folder, create this folder:

code

resources/qu_oop_metatables

Create the files

Every file named in the manifest exists.

Create this exact file layout:

code

resources/qu_oop_metatables/
fxmanifest.lua
server.lua

OOP in Lua: classes via metatables

Build it

Make the resource folder

Create the files

Write fxmanifest.lua

Write the lesson code

Start and test it

Keep reading the full lesson