String split returns nil value error in lua

Question

I'm following a lua doc page on string splitting, get an error trying it myself. For example,

Lua 5.1.4  Copyright (C) 1994-2008 Lua.org, PUC-Rio
split("a,b,c", ",") 

returns

stdin:1: attempt to call global 'split' (a nil value)
stack traceback:
stdin:1: in main chunk
[C]: ?

Why is this so?

Answer 1

That isn't a "lua doc page". It is a wiki article explaining the concept of splitting and joining strings, not any actual functions in Lua. The Lua documentation clearly states that there is no "split" function. The wiki article is explaining how to create such a function and/or how such a function might work.