Globals and singleton

[Froyok]

I'm prepping up the global structure of my game and I was wondering what would be the most optimal approach given the layout of code I would like to use. I have read a bit about how Lua handles Globals and they way require works, but I'm wouldn't mind some additional feedback. I feel like my approach could be better but not sure how yet. (Some background: I have experience in Python/C++ but not much with Lua).

To give an example, here is how my structure roughly looks like in main.lua:

Code: Select all

NFS 	= require( "lib.nativefs" )
PATH 	= require( "lib.path.path" )
JSON 	= require( "lib.dkjson.dkjson" )
STRICT 	= require( "lib.luastrict.strict" )

require( "scripts.utils" )
require( "scripts.font" )
require( "scripts.music" )
require( "scripts.input" )
require( "scripts.splash" )
require( "scripts.gamestate" )

function love.load( Args )
	FONT:Init()
	MUSIC:Init()
	SPLASH:Init()
end

function love.update( DeltaTime )
	INPUT:Update( DeltaTime )
	MUSIC:Update( DeltaTime )
	GAME_STATE:Update( DeltaTime )
end

function love.draw()
	GAME_STATE:Draw()
end

Example of my script gamestate.lua:

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GAME_STATE = {
	StateList = {
		"Splash",
		"MainMenu",
		"Map",
		"World",
		"Fight",
		"PauseMenu",
		"Credits"
	},

	CurrentState = "Splash",

	----------------------------------------
	GetCurrentState = function (self)
		return self.CurrentState
	end,

	----------------------------------------
	Update = function(self, DeltaTime)
		if self.CurrentState == "Splash" then
			SPLASH:Update( DeltaTime )
		end
	end,

	----------------------------------------
	Draw = function(self)
		if self.CurrentState == "Splash" then
			SPLASH:Draw()
		end
	end
}

Other "modules" are pretty much using the same logic: a global variable stores an object that serves as a singleton.
This is convenient for me to be able to reference each object via other script, kind of like a system.

So now I know I could store the reference to the global into a local variable inside each script to speed things up a bit, however I wonder if there is an even better approach ? I prefer to look into that now before having to refactor a lot of code later.

[pgimeno]

You can do away with the globals altogether by just assigning the require to a local. Using locals instead of globals has one fundamental advantage: they make files much more readable in that it is self-contained. If you forget where a certain variable was defined or modified, you don't have to search for the file in which it was defined or modified: the require() line will tell you where it is defined, and the parameter passing will tell you where it is modified.

Apart from that, they are faster to access, albeit probably marginally, due to not needing a table lookup.

[Froyok]

Noted on the require. Makes sense after reading how that function works.

the require() line will tell you where it is defined, and the parameter passing will tell you where it is modified.

I'm not sure what you mean by parameter passing ? You mean to the function from the global in case I have a callstack to follow ?

[pgimeno]

I'm not sure what you mean by parameter passing ? You mean to the function from the global ?

If the variables stop being global, in order to do something with them in other places, you need to pass them as parameters. That's what I was referring to.

[Froyok]

If the variables stop being global, in order to do something with them in other places, you need to pass them as parameters. That's what I was referring to.

Can't I just return my object like this and use the requires ? Taking advantage of the caching.

Simplified example:
main.lua

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local SPLASH = require( "scripts.splash" )
local GAME_STATE = require( "scripts.gamestate" )

function love.load( Args )
	SPLASH:Init()
end

function love.update( DeltaTime )
	GAME_STATE:Update( DeltaTime )
end

splash.lua

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local SPLASH = {
	WindowWidth = 720,
	WindowHeight = 340
}

return SPLASH

gamestate.lua

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local SPLASH = require( "scripts.splash" )

GAME_STATE = {
	Update = function(self, DeltaTime)
		if self.CurrentState == "Splash" then
			SPLASH:Update( DeltaTime )
		end
	end
}

return GAME_STATE

Seems to be working, but I'm not familiar enough to foresee the consequences of this pattern.

Otherwise I think I understand now what you mean by passing as parameters. Which I could do via the Init() function and store a reference this way I guess, but that would make them tedious to maintain (I did that once in another project).

[grump]

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GAME_STATE = {
	Update = function(self, DeltaTime)
		if self.CurrentState == "Splash" then
			SPLASH:Update( DeltaTime )
		end
	end
}

If you made self.CurrentState the actual state instead of a string with the state's name, you could do away with the ifs.

You could also return a fully initialized SPLASH table in splash.lua and delete that love.load nonsense. By the time main.lua runs and you require the file, everything you need from love is ready to use.

[Froyok]

If you made self.CurrentState the actual state instead of a string with the state's name, you could do away with the ifs.

That's a good point. I just kept my code snippet simple to simplify the discussion around. I have other stuff planned in the state update function.

You could also return a fully initialized SPLASH table in splash.lua and delete that love.load nonsense. By the time main.lua runs and you require the file, everything you need from love is ready to use.

I thought love.load() was the perfect place to do this kind of stuff before any rendering/update, so why going away from it ? I fail to see how it's "nonsense".

[grump]

I thought love.load() was the perfect place to do this kind of stuff before any rendering/update, so why going away from it ? I fail to see how it's "nonsense".

All it does it add complexity. The explicit :init call is completely unnecessary.

love.load is a remnant from darker times and it doesn't have a purpose anymore. You can use it if writing more code for no real reason makes you happy.

[pgimeno]

Can't I just return my object like this and use the requires ? Taking advantage of the caching.

Yes, except...

gamestate.lua

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local SPLASH = require( "scripts.splash" )

GAME_STATE = {
	Update = function(self, DeltaTime)
		if self.CurrentState == "Splash" then
			SPLASH:Update( DeltaTime )
		end
	end
}

return GAME_STATE

... make GAME_STATE local here!

[Froyok]

Yes, except...

[...]

... make GAME_STATE local here!

Ho yeah, forgot the local when writing my snippet. All good on the actual code. Thx !