Or operator

The 'or' operator operates on two values. If the first value is neither false nor nil, the 'or' operator returns the first value. If the first value is false or nil, then it will return the second value, regardless of what it is.

If Statement

The 'or' operator comes in handy when you want to check if one of the listed values is a certain value.

soul = true
food = false
try = false

if soul == true or food == true or try == true then -- If any of the three comparisons are met, then continue
    print("The value of either soul, food or try is true.")
end

The value of either soul, food or try is true.

Choice of Value

The 'or' operator can also be used to choose an existent value of a value that is nil or false. Here are some examples:

local y = x or 1
print(y)

1

This printed '1' because x doesn't exist and is therefore nil. So the or operator allowed us to choose 1 over nil.

local x = false
local y = x or 1
print(y)

1

This also printed '1' because although x exists, it is false. If x had been true, then y would be true, because the 'or' operator would choose x, as it is neither false, neither nil.

See Also

• and operator
• not operator
• Conditional statements
• Operators