Metatable

Definitions

1. In Lua, a regular table attached to another table that defines fallback behavior through metamethods — enabling operator overloading, inheritance, and custom indexing.

   In plain English: A special table in Lua that tells another table what to do in situations it doesn't handle on its own, like looking up missing keys.

   Example: "Set the metatable's __index to a prototype table and you've got poor man's inheritance in Lua."

Related Terms

• SOLID
• Class
• Constructor
• Dependency Injection
• Derived Type
• Destructor
• Generic
• Metamethod
• Nil
• Userdata
• Lua Module