-- account.lua -- from PiL 1, Chapter 16 Account = {balance = 0} function Account:new (o, name) o = o or {name=name} setmetatable(o, self) self.__index = self return o end function Account:deposit (v) self.balance = self.balance + v end function Account:withdraw (v) if v > self.balance then error("insufficient funds on account "..self.name) end self.balance = self.balance - v end function Account:show (title) print(title or "", self.name, self.balance) end a = Account:new(nil,"demo") a:show("after creation") a:deposit(1000.00) a:show("after deposit") a:withdraw(100.00) a:show("after withdraw") -- this would raise an error b = Account:new(nil,"DEMO") b:withdraw(100.00)