function blockgame.stringify (tab)
	if type(tab) == "table" then
		local result = "{ "
		for key, value in pairs(tab) do
			result = result .. key .. ": " .. blockgame.stringify(value) .. ", "
		end
		return result .. "}"
	elseif type(tab) == "function" then
		return "<function>"
	elseif type(tab) == "boolean" then
		if tab then return "true" else return "false" end
	elseif type(tab) == "nil" then
		return "nil"
	else
		return tab
	end
end



function blockgame.starts_with (str, start)
	return string.sub(str, 1, string.len(start)) == start
end



function blockgame.extract_id_parts (name)
	local basename
	local modname

	local colon_pos = string.find(name, ":")
	if colon_pos then
		modname = string.sub(name, 1, colon_pos - 1)
		basename = string.sub(name, colon_pos + 1)
	else
		modname = minetest.get_current_modname()
		basename = name
	end

	return basename, modname, modname .. ":" .. basename
end