Question

So I have a table that holds references to other tables like:

local a = newObject()
a.collection = {}
for i = 1, 100 do
    local b = newObject()
    a[#a + 1] = b
end 

Now if I want to see if a particular object is within “a” I have to use pairs like so:

local z = a.collection[ 99 ]
for i,j in pairs( a.collection ) do
    if j == z then
    return true
  end
end

The z object is in the 99th spot and I would have to wait for pairs to iterate all the way throughout the other 98 objects. This set up is making my program crawl. Is there a way to make some sort of key that isn’t a string or a table to table comparison that is a one liner? Like:

if a.collection[{z}] then return true end

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Why are you storing the object in the value slot and not the key slot of the table?

local a = newObject()
a.collection = {}
for i = 1, 100 do
    local b = newObject()
    a.collection[b] = i
end 

to see if a particular object is within “a”

return a.collection[b]

If you need integer indexed access to the collection, store it both ways:

local a = newObject()
a.collection = {}
for i = 1, 100 do
    local b = newObject()
    a.collection[i] = b
    a.collection[b] = i
end 

Finding:

local z = a.collection[99]
if a.collection[z] then return true end