Question 1

How do I implement asynchronous state transitions with Lua State Machine?

Accepted Answer

Return ASYNC from onleavestate or onenterstate callbacks, then call fsm:transition(eventName) after async operations complete. The README provides an example with scene fading, where the transition is deferred until an animation callback fires.

Question 2

What's the difference between kyleconroy/lua-state-machine and other Lua FSM libraries?

Accepted Answer

This library is heavily inspired by javascript-state-machine, offering a similar declarative table-based API with async support, but it's standalone with no dependencies. Compared to others, it excels in simplicity but lacks features like hierarchical states or extensive ecosystems.

Question 3

Can I use wildcards for 'from' states in transitions?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can use '*' in the 'from' field to allow an event from any state, as mentioned in the README note under multiple from/to states. This is useful for events like 'reset' that transition regardless of current state.

Question 4

How to handle errors or validate states in callbacks?

Accepted Answer

Use the is(), can(), and cannot() methods to query state validity, and return false from onbefore or onleave callbacks to cancel events. However, error handling beyond this is minimal, so you must implement custom validation logic in callbacks.

Question 5

Is this library good for managing UI states in Love2D games?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it's ideal for Love2D or similar Lua-based games, as async transitions can handle animations, and callbacks allow integrating with rendering logic. The declarative setup makes it easy to model menu or scene states, as shown in the async example with SceneManager.

Question 6

How to dynamically add or remove callbacks during runtime?

Accepted Answer

Callbacks can be assigned or set to nil on the fsm object at any time, such as fsm.ongreen = function() print('green') end or fsm.ongreen = nil. The README shows this flexibility with onstatechange assignment.

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