Module 1-1: Variables

Introduction

Variables are super important. A program can't do anything if you only hard code data. Let's talk about them today.

Outline:

• What is a Variable?
  • Variable Naming
• Examples
  • Changing the BrickColor of a Part
  • Checking the Current Time

What is a Variable?

A variable is a named container that can hold a value. A variable lets your program remember information and later on it can reference that information when making decisions. Variable values can be numbers, strings, booleans, data types, and more.

Variable Naming

In Lua, which is the primary programming language that Roblox uses, variables names can be anything as long as it:

• doesn't start with a number
• is not just a number
• doesn't have spaces
• is not a "reserved" word

Note: Variables are case-sensitive, meaning

LETTERS		-- valid
a1			-- valid
var_name	-- valid
_test		-- valid

if		    -- NOT valid
25th		-- NOT valid

The following keywords are reserved by Lua and cannot be used as variables or function names:

Examples

The following are some examples on how variables can be used in Roblox Studio:

Changing the BrickColor of a Part

Add this script inside of a Part and the Part will change into four different colors infinitely.

part = script.Parent

red = BrickColor.Red()
green = BrickColor.Green()
blue = BrickColor.new("Really blue")
purple = BrickColor.new("Light lilac")

while true do
	part.BrickColor = red
	wait(1)
	part.BrickColor = green
	wait(1)
	part.BrickColor = blue
	wait(1)
	part.BrickColor = purple
	wait(1)
end

In the script above,

Checking the Current Time

This script can be placed anywhere within the Workspace and will run only once to check what the current time of day is.

currentTime = game.Lighting.ClockTime

if currentTime <= 12 then
	print("It is day time!")
else
	print("It is night time!")
end

In the script above,