Lesson 28 of 55
9 mins readThe table Library: insert, remove, concat & unpack
In Plain English
The standard `table` library provides built-in utilities for array manipulation: `table.insert`, `table.remove`, `table.concat`, `table.pack`, and `table.unpack`.
Deep Dive: How It Works
table.insert(t, [pos,] val): Inserts an element at the end or at a specific 1-based index.
table.remove(t [, pos]): Removes and returns the element at `pos` (defaults to end).
table.concat(t, sep): Joins array strings with a separator.
table.unpack(t): Expands an array into multiple return values.
Core Rules to Remember
table.insert & remove: Standard insertion and removal functions with automatic index shifting.
table.concat(): High-performance string joiner for array elements.
Live Interactive Example
Hit Run Code to see it liveManipulating Arrays with the table Library
Python 3.12
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Output Console
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How it works: table.insert placed Beta at index 2, and table.remove popped the last item.
Your Turn: Micro Challenge
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Micro Exercise
Concatenate Words with table.concat
- Declare `local words = { "Fast", "Lightweight", "Embeddable" }`.
- Print `"Features: " .. table.concat(words, ", ")`.
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Sandbox Output
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