core.object
Base class providing OOP functionality for Lua. All classes in Pragtical inherit from Object.
local object = require "core.object"
__index
(field) __index: core.object
Base class providing OOP functionality for Lua. All classes in Pragtical inherit from Object.
super
(field) super: core.object
Base class providing OOP functionality for Lua. All classes in Pragtical inherit from Object.
__call
(method) core.object:__call(...any)
-> obj: core.object
Metamethod allowing class to be called like a constructor.
Enables syntax: local obj = MyClass(args) instead of MyClass:new(args)
Automatically creates instance and calls new() with provided arguments.
@return obj — The new instance of the class
__tostring
(method) core.object:__tostring()
-> str: string
Get string representation of the object (for debugging/logging).
Override in subclasses to provide meaningful names.
Example: function MyClass:__tostring() return "MyClass" end
@return str — String representation (default: "Object")
extend
(method) core.object:extend()
-> cls: core.object
Create a new class that inherits from this one.
Returns a new class with this class as its parent.
Example: local MyClass = Object:extend()
@return cls — The new class table
extends
(method) core.object:extends(T: any)
-> extends: boolean
Check if object inherits from the given type (inheritance-aware).
Use this to check class hierarchy.
Example: view:extends(View) returns true for View and all subclasses
@param T — Class to check inheritance from
@return extends — True if object is T or inherits from T
is
(method) core.object:is(T: any)
-> is_exact: boolean
Check if object is exactly of the given type (no inheritance check).
Use this for strict type matching.
Example: view:is(DocView) returns true only if view is a DocView, not a subclass
@param T — Class to check against
@return is_exact — True if object is exactly type T
is_class_of
(method) core.object:is_class_of(T: any)
-> is_instance: boolean
Check if the given object is exactly an instance of this class.
Inverse of is() - checks if T is an instance of self.
Example: DocView:is_class_of(obj) checks if obj is exactly a DocView
@param T — Object to check
@return is_instance — True if T is exactly an instance of this class
is_extended_by
(method) core.object:is_extended_by(T: any)
-> is_extended: boolean
Check if the given object/class inherits from this class.
Inverse of extends() - checks if T is a subclass of self.
Example: View:is_extended_by(DocView) checks if DocView inherits from View
@param T — Object or class to check
@return is_extended — True if T inherits from this class
new
(method) core.object:new()
Constructor called when creating new instances.
Override in subclasses to initialize state. Always call super first:
MyClass.super.new(self)
Can be overridden by child objects to implement a constructor.