I know of:
http://lua-users.org/wiki/SimpleLuaApiExample
It shows me how to build up a table (key, value) pair entry by entry.
Suppose instead, I want to build a gigantic table (say something a 1000 entry table, where both key & value are strings), is there a fast way to do this in lua (rather than 4 func calls per entry:
push
key
value
rawset
What you have written is the fast way to solve this problem. Lua tables are brilliantly engineered, and fast enough that there is no need for some kind of bogus “hint” to say “I expect this table to grow to contain 1000 elements.”