Is this book up to date with the lua defold uses? After going through the book, how do I apply what I learn in the context of game development in defold?
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Everything about Lua in Defold including answers you need are here - Lua programming in Defold. From this site you can see that Lua 5.1 is recommended if you plan to make games for all platforms 
Lua.org you linked is generally the most acurate website for Lua, so yes. Beside of Lua you will need to use Defold API - API reference (go) etc. Obviously, not everything is needed to start - you can start with some tutorials or examples: Defold manuals and other learning resources.
And welcome to the Defold community! 
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Update. I tried to go through the book but it was really confusing because it assumes I already know how to program and I don’t. I’m thinking about doing CS50: Introduction to Computer Science then CS50’s Introduction to Game Development. Then I will get to using defold. Is this plan okay? I wanted to switch to godot because even though lua is said to be great for beginners, there aren’t any good beginner tutorials as all the tutorials assume previous experience. But godot requires OpenGL 3.0 for better games that my computer doesn’t support and defold is very minimalist and is working fine with my computer.
Perhaps you have more luck with some of the existing Lua tutorials on YouTube. I found a few here:
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You can also just ask questions here, no matter how basic. No one will mind if it’s not a “Defold-specific” question. It is pretty hard to find really basic info on the internet.
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Hello there,
I started my journey into coding with this course here: Introduction to Computer Science using Java by Bradley Kjell, Central Connecticut State University. It uses Java, but gives you a basic understanding that you can then use for other languages too, like Lua. The great thing about it was that it assumes the reader has no knowledge about programming whatsoever and explains the building blocks very nicely.
As for Lua, I found this one here, by tutorialpoints: Lua Tutorial.
The links to courses by Harvard University you posted look great too.
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Okay I will do that, thank you!
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Wow thank you. Both the intro to cs using java course and lua tutorial seem really good. I have a couple of questions.
I would like to take the java course first because I want to major in cs and java is the programming language they use at my target college but I would also like to get started with game development. Skimming though the lua tutorial, it still seems very brief in the learning while the java looks to go more in dept. Is this true? Some of the chapters for the java course are missing, will I still be able to learn programming without those chapters? After doing the java course, then the lua tutorial, how do I apply my knowledge to making games?
edit to add: looks like the original java course was updated, so i’ll be taking this
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I guess it depends on which chapters that are missing 
One thing which is great about programming languages is that once you’ve learnt one it is usually a lot easier to pick up the next one programming language. Some languages are more similar than others but as you learn and gain experience it becomes easier for sure.
And once you have an understanding of a programming language you should have no problems reading the Defold manuals and following a Defold tutorial.
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Hi again,
I just glanced over the Lua tutorial, it does cover all important points, I think, BUT to take full advantage it would be helpful to have some basic ideas about coding.
The Java course takes you step by step deeper and deeper into the world of programming. It is easy to follow, I found the quizzes, the exercises and the score cards really helpful. You can easily check your progress along the way. Of course, it is an introductory course, but covers all the fundamentals. And I see you found the updated version. The course hasn’t changed much, just uses a newer version of Java.
Exactly, then you have all the tools at your disposal to follow along.
Btw, I vaguely remember missing chapters but only in the german translation if I recall correctly.
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Thank you! I’m doing the java course and liking it so far
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Have fun!
Oh, and the missing chapters: the chapter numbering has gaps nearing the end of the course, I just saw it, but there is nothing missing you might need.
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