Reading from dictionaries: string key or variable value?

[VakarisLDoE (MrFlawless)]

Hey, I was just wondering, when do you use a string key or a variable value if you want to read from a dictionary? The documentation doesn’t have anything written about it.

Here is a screenshot from the documentation:

[awry_y (Kat)]

Your choice. Both act almost as the same. You can call each like so:

local values = {
["key1"] = "The Value 1";
key2 = "They Value 2: Vengeance";
}
print(values["key1"],values["key2"])
print(values.key1,values.key2)

It’s basically how clean you want your code to be I guess.

[VakarisLDoE (MrFlawless)]

Ye, but I meant not like in a dictionary but whilst trying to get data from it like this:

local dictionary = {
	attention = "mild",
	satisfaction = "Great",
	Mood = "Awesome"
	
}

print(dictionary[attention])

Doesn’t work, because there are no brackets on [attention], but why do you need them?

[OniiSamaUwU (UwU)]

Depends what your key is.

local t = {
    -- these 2 assign strings as keys
    foo = 1,
    ["bar"] = 2,
    -- read below
    -- [baz] = 3
}

-- this assigns the variable 'baz' of workspace as the key
local baz = workspace
t[baz] = 3

I explain more on square brackets and why we use them here: Question about keys with quotation marks in dictionaries - #3 by OniiSamaUwU

[awry_y (Kat)]

Because it considers “attention” as a variable and as attention is not set, it would make it nil so you are just doing:

dictionary[nil]

Try it like this:

local attention = "satisfaction"
local dictionary = {
	attention = "mild",
	satisfaction = "Great",
	Mood = "Awesome"
	
}

print(dictionary[attention])

[OniiSamaUwU (UwU)]

Square brackets without quotation marks are expected to be variables and/or any other non-string objects. Here are examples:

local t = {
    key1 = true,
    ["key2"] = false,
    [workspace] = 1 -- assigning the actual game.Workspace as the key
}

print(t["key1"]) -- true
print(t.key2) -- false
print(t[workspace]) -- 1

local var = workspace
print(t[var]) -- 1

local var2 = "key1"
print(t[var2]) -- true

[VakarisLDoE (MrFlawless)]

@awry_y @OniiSamaUwU …

OH, but this just makes everything more complicated. I do understand what you both mean now, thanks for the help!

[awry_y (Kat)]

No problem! It sure is complicated as you’re just starting out but as time passes, you’ll get really good and become an amazing dev! Till then, good luck on your journey.