Getting input from the user in Lua

Use io.read() Beware that the function can be customised with different parameters. Here are some examples.

 s = io.read("*n") -- read a number
 s = io.read("*l") -- read a line (default when no parameter is given)
 s = io.read("*a") -- read the complete stdin
 s = io.read(7) -- read 7 characters from stdin
 x,y = io.read(7,12) -- read 7 and 12 characters from stdin and assign them to x and y
 a,b = io.read("*n","*n") -- read two numbers and assign them to a and b

The simplest input can be retrieved using io.read(). This will read a single line from the standard input (usually the keyboard, but can be redirected e.g. from file).

You can use it like this:

io.write('Hello, what is your name? ')
local name = io.read()
io.write('Nice to meet you, ', name, '!\n')

io.read() is just a shortcut for io.input():read(), similarly io.write() is a shortcut to io.output():write(). See the API for read() here.

Notice that io.write() will not auto-terminate your line like print() does.