Does lua have something similar to python's import x as y?

[Dola]

I have been separating my game code into several files, one for each part of it (mainMenu.lua,HUD.lua,arcadeMode.lua) and importing them with require "file" but doing things this way , as the code grows things start to get confusing because of the huge amount of functions i have created.

In python i could do something like

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import mainMenu.py as M

inside this file i would have a function named "draw" and to draw the menu i could write

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M.draw()

I know i could make each file a table with a lot of functions inside and require it normally but is there a more elegant way of doing this?

[ivan]

I know i could make each file a table with a lot of functions inside and require it normally but is there a more elegant way of doing this?

Yep, you can use the "module" keyword:

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local base = _G
module("api")

function foo()
  math.random(1, 100)
  -- error, "math" is undefined
end
function bar()
  base.math.random(1, 100)
  -- the proper way to access "math"
end

There, both foo and bar are now accessed via "api.foo()" or "api.bar()".
However, using the module keyword makes globals inaccessible so you it's good to have a "base" reference.

[Nixola]

Isn't the module function deprecated?

[Robin]

Isn't the module function deprecated?

It is.

Please, do not use module().

Here's what you can do:
In somemodule.lua:

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local m = {}

function m.draw()
   ....
end

...

return m

In main.lua:

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local foo = require 'somemodule'

foo.draw()

[T-Bone]

Yes, require is the way to go. The problem there is that it assumes that the module you are importing is well written.

[Robin]

The problem there is that it assumes that the module you are importing is well written.

That is unfortunate, yes. However, if you write the module yourself, you can make it well written. If it's a 3rd party library, you should probably use one that's well written anyway.

[Dola]

All right, thanks guys!