Lua

Historical Overview of the Language

Lua is a multi-paradigm language, supporting various programming styles, that was created to extend software applications. Inspired by SOL (Simple Object Language) and DEL (Data-Entry Language), Lua has grown to be a language used in many unexpected ways. Brazilian Professors Roberto Lerusalimschy, Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo, and Waldemar Celes created Lua in 1993 because they were unable to get computer software abroad with Brazil’s strong trade barriers.

Advantages of Lua

Minimalistic and Easy to Grasp

Lua is designed to be easy to grasp as it only contains 21 key terms and has a short learning curve compared to other languages. While it is unlikely that we will create the next innovation in graphics with Lua, it is a great language for beginners as it is less overwhelming compared to other popular languages.

Performant and Customizable

Lua is often thought to beat Python in terms of performance. Its high-performance output plays a role in its popularity.

Customizable and Powerful for Developers

With the control provided by the language, developers can create useful programming frameworks, tools, and other resources according to their needs.

For example, Lua’s automatic garbage collection allows developers to focus on programming while forgetting about garbage collection. Additionally, Lua provides the ability for programmers to control how the garbage is collected.

Common Uses of Lua

Game development

• Due to its simple syntax, Lua is often used for game development, though it does tend to lack in graphics and advanced operations. Some popular games that use Lua, or a modified version of it, are ROBLOX, Garry’s Mod, and Civilizations V.
• Lua is especially useful for game development because it can be used as an “extension language”, meaning that it can be embedded in most other platforms or systems.

Software Applications using Lua

• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom’s user interface is built with Lua.
• Celestia, an astronomy educational program, was developed in Lua.
• MySQL Workbench’s extensions and add-ons are created in Lua.
• WeeChat IRC client allows scripts to be written in Lua.

Extensions/Compatibility

• Lua can be used to add to any platform that supports C, C#, C++, and Java programming languages.
• Lua can be used to enhance programs written in other languages.