loops - Lua Least Common Multiple Program Not Enough Memory -

this lua program wrote find least common multiple of 2 numbers. when run it, asks 2 numbers intended, when tries run them through function, runs out of memory.

function lcm(a,b)     alist={}     blist={}     c=0         if a<b             repeat                 c=c+1                 alist[c]=a*c                 blist[c]=b*c                 al=table.getn(alist)             until al==b             else             if a>b                 repeat                     c=c+1                     alist[c]=a*c                     blist[c]=b*c                     bl=table.getn(blist)                 until bl==a             end         end     e=1     repeat         d=1         repeat             if alist[e]==blist[d]                 f=alist[e]                 return f             end         d=d+1         until d==table.getn(alist)     e=e+1     until e==table.getn(blist) end  n1=io.read() n2=io.read() ans=lcm(n1,n2) print(ans) 

the bug arises because of io.read call. pil

the read function reads strings current input file.

thus, values n1 , n2 passed strings inside function , hence, never causing until al == b or until bl == a satisfied 1 of them string number. solve problem, can 1 of following:

1. pass "*number" control argument:

   n1 = io.read( "*number" ) n2 = io.read( "*number" ) 

2. cast a , b numbers:

   function lcm(a,b)     a, b = tonumber(a), tonumber(b)