Cookbooks
Lua
Chapter 3. Numbers
Working with complex numbers

Lua:
Working with complex numbers

How to:

In Lua, you can represent complex numbers with tables. The basic operations involve adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing these tables. Here’s how:

-- Define two complex numbers as tables
local complex_a = { real = 3, imag = 5 }
local complex_b = { real = 2, imag = -4 }

-- Function to add two complex numbers
local function add_complex(a, b)
  return { real = a.real + b.real, imag = a.imag + b.imag }
end

-- Sample output
print(add_complex(complex_a, complex_b))  -- { real = 5, imag = 1 }

Deep Dive

Complex numbers have been around since the 16th century, helping solve equations that couldn’t be cracked with just real numbers. Lua itself doesn’t have a built-in complex number type. However, this is no biggie—you can craft your own complex number manipulations using tables and functions, as shown above. Or, if your needs go deeper, snag a library like LuaComplex. This is a fine pick because it’s built specifically for Lua and takes the manual work off your plate. Libraries like this also often optimize operations under the hood, so they’re faster than rolling your own.

See Also

For more detailed examples and advanced operations, check these out:

Rounding numbers