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- <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
- <HTML>
- <HEAD>
- <TITLE>Lua 5.2 readme</TITLE>
- <LINK REL="stylesheet" TYPE="text/css" HREF="lua.css">
- <META HTTP-EQUIV="content-type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
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- padding-bottom: 0.2em ;
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- font-size: 12pt ;
- }
- </STYLE>
- </HEAD>
- <BODY>
- <HR>
- <H1>
- <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/"><IMG SRC="logo.gif" ALT="Lua" BORDER=0></A>
- Welcome to Lua 5.2
- </H1>
- <P>
- <A HREF="#about">about</A>
- ·
- <A HREF="#install">installation</A>
- ·
- <A HREF="#changes">changes</A>
- ·
- <A HREF="#license">license</A>
- ·
- <A HREF="contents.html">reference manual</A>
- <H2><A NAME="about">About Lua</A></H2>
- <P>
- Lua is a powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language
- developed by a
- <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/authors.html">team</A>
- at
- <A HREF="http://www.puc-rio.br/">PUC-Rio</A>,
- the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
- Lua is
- <A HREF="#license">free software</A>
- used in many products and projects around the world.
- <P>
- Lua's
- <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/">official web site</A>
- provides complete information
- about Lua,
- including
- an
- <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/about.html">executive summary</A>
- and
- updated
- <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/docs.html">documentation</A>,
- especially the
- <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/manual/5.2/">reference manual</A>,
- which may differ slightly from the
- <A HREF="contents.html">local copy</A>
- distributed in this package.
- <H2><A NAME="install">Installing Lua</A></H2>
- <P>
- Lua is distributed in
- <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/ftp/">source</A>
- form.
- You need to build it before using it.
- Building Lua should be straightforward
- because
- Lua is implemented in pure ANSI C and compiles unmodified in all known
- platforms that have an ANSI C compiler.
- Lua also compiles unmodified as C++.
- The instructions given below for building Lua are for Unix-like platforms.
- See also
- <A HREF="#other">instructions for other systems</A>
- and
- <A HREF="#customization">customization options</A>.
- <P>
- If you don't have the time or the inclination to compile Lua yourself,
- get a binary from
- <A HREF="http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaBinaries">LuaBinaries</A>.
- Try also
- <A HREF="http://luaforwindows.luaforge.net/">Lua for Windows</A>,
- an easy-to-use distribution of Lua that includes many useful libraries.
- <H3>Building Lua</H3>
- <P>
- In most Unix-like platforms, simply do "<KBD>make</KBD>" with a suitable target.
- Here are the details.
- <OL>
- <LI>
- Open a terminal window and move to
- the top-level directory, which is named <TT>lua-5.2.3</TT>.
- The Makefile there controls both the build process and the installation process.
- <P>
- <LI>
- Do "<KBD>make</KBD>" and see if your platform is listed.
- The platforms currently supported are:
- <P>
- <P CLASS="display">
- aix ansi bsd freebsd generic linux macosx mingw posix solaris
- </P>
- <P>
- If your platform is listed, just do "<KBD>make xxx</KBD>", where xxx
- is your platform name.
- <P>
- If your platform is not listed, try the closest one or posix, generic,
- ansi, in this order.
- <P>
- <LI>
- The compilation takes only a few moments
- and produces three files in the <TT>src</TT> directory:
- lua (the interpreter),
- luac (the compiler),
- and liblua.a (the library).
- <P>
- <LI>
- To check that Lua has been built correctly, do "<KBD>make test</KBD>"
- after building Lua. This will run the interpreter and print its version string.
- </OL>
- <P>
- If you're running Linux and get compilation errors,
- make sure you have installed the <TT>readline</TT> development package.
- If you get link errors after that,
- then try "<KBD>make linux MYLIBS=-ltermcap</KBD>".
- <H3>Installing Lua</H3>
- <P>
- Once you have built Lua, you may want to install it in an official
- place in your system. In this case, do "<KBD>make install</KBD>". The official
- place and the way to install files are defined in the Makefile. You'll
- probably need the right permissions to install files.
- <P>
- To build and install Lua in one step, do "<KBD>make xxx install</KBD>",
- where xxx is your platform name.
- <P>
- To install Lua locally, do "<KBD>make local</KBD>".
- This will create a directory <TT>install</TT> with subdirectories
- <TT>bin</TT>, <TT>include</TT>, <TT>lib</TT>, <TT>man</TT>,
- and install Lua as listed below.
- To install Lua locally, but in some other directory, do
- "<KBD>make install INSTALL_TOP=xxx</KBD>", where xxx is your chosen directory.
- <DL CLASS="display">
- <DT>
- bin:
- <DD>
- lua luac
- <DT>
- include:
- <DD>
- lua.h luaconf.h lualib.h lauxlib.h lua.hpp
- <DT>
- lib:
- <DD>
- liblua.a
- <DT>
- man/man1:
- <DD>
- lua.1 luac.1
- </DL>
- <P>
- These are the only directories you need for development.
- If you only want to run Lua programs,
- you only need the files in bin and man.
- The files in include and lib are needed for
- embedding Lua in C or C++ programs.
- <H3><A NAME="customization">Customization</A></H3>
- <P>
- Three kinds of things can be customized by editing a file:
- <UL>
- <LI> Where and how to install Lua — edit <TT>Makefile</TT>.
- <LI> How to build Lua — edit <TT>src/Makefile</TT>.
- <LI> Lua features — edit <TT>src/luaconf.h</TT>.
- </UL>
- <P>
- You don't actually need to edit the Makefiles because you may set the
- relevant variables in the command line when invoking make.
- Nevertheless, it's probably best to edit and save the Makefiles to
- record the changes you need.
- <P>
- On the other hand, if you need to customize some Lua features, you'll need
- to edit <TT>src/luaconf.h</TT> before building and installing Lua.
- The edited file will be the one installed, and
- it will be used by any Lua clients that you build, to ensure consistency.
- Further customization is available to experts by editing the Lua sources.
- <P>
- We strongly recommend that you enable dynamic loading in <TT>src/luaconf.h</TT>.
- This is done automatically for all platforms listed above that have
- this feature and also for Windows.
- <H3><A NAME="other">Building Lua on other systems</A></H3>
- <P>
- If you're not using the usual Unix tools, then the instructions for
- building Lua depend on the compiler you use. You'll need to create
- projects (or whatever your compiler uses) for building the library,
- the interpreter, and the compiler, as follows:
- <DL CLASS="display">
- <DT>
- library:
- <DD>
- lapi.c lcode.c lctype.c ldebug.c ldo.c ldump.c lfunc.c lgc.c llex.c
- lmem.c lobject.c lopcodes.c lparser.c lstate.c lstring.c ltable.c
- ltm.c lundump.c lvm.c lzio.c
- lauxlib.c lbaselib.c lbitlib.c lcorolib.c ldblib.c liolib.c
- lmathlib.c loslib.c lstrlib.c ltablib.c loadlib.c linit.c
- <DT>
- interpreter:
- <DD>
- library, lua.c
- <DT>
- compiler:
- <DD>
- library, luac.c
- </DL>
- <P>
- To use Lua as a library in your own programs you'll need to know how to
- create and use libraries with your compiler. Moreover, to dynamically load
- C libraries for Lua you'll need to know how to create dynamic libraries
- and you'll need to make sure that the Lua API functions are accessible to
- those dynamic libraries — but <EM>don't</EM> link the Lua library
- into each dynamic library. For Unix, we recommend that the Lua library
- be linked statically into the host program and its symbols exported for
- dynamic linking; <TT>src/Makefile</TT> does this for the Lua interpreter.
- For Windows, we recommend that the Lua library be a DLL.
- <P>
- As mentioned above, you may edit <TT>src/luaconf.h</TT> to customize
- some features before building Lua.
- <H2><A NAME="changes">Changes since Lua 5.1</A></H2>
- <P>
- Here are the main changes introduced in Lua 5.2.
- The
- <A HREF="contents.html">reference manual</A>
- lists the
- <A HREF="manual.html#8">incompatibilities</A> that had to be introduced.
- <H3>Main changes</H3>
- <UL>
- <LI> yieldable pcall and metamethods
- <LI> new lexical scheme for globals
- <LI> ephemeron tables
- <LI> new library for bitwise operations
- <LI> light C functions
- <LI> emergency garbage collector
- <LI> <CODE>goto</CODE> statement
- <LI> finalizers for tables
- </UL>
- Here are the other changes introduced in Lua 5.2:
- <H3>Language</H3>
- <UL>
- <LI> no more fenv for threads or functions
- <LI> tables honor the <CODE>__len</CODE> metamethod
- <LI> hex and <CODE>\z</CODE> escapes in strings
- <LI> support for hexadecimal floats
- <LI> order metamethods work for different types
- <LI> no more verification of opcode consistency
- <LI> hook event "tail return" replaced by "tail call"
- <LI> empty statement
- <LI> <CODE>break</CODE> statement may appear in the middle of a block
- </UL>
- <H3>Libraries</H3>
- <UL>
- <LI> arguments for function called through <CODE>xpcall</CODE>
- <LI> optional 'mode' argument to load and loadfile (to control binary x text)
- <LI> optional 'env' argument to load and loadfile (environment for loaded chunk)
- <LI> <CODE>loadlib</CODE> may load libraries with global names (RTLD_GLOBAL)
- <LI> new function <CODE>package.searchpath</CODE>
- <LI> modules receive their paths when loaded
- <LI> optional base in <CODE>math.log</CODE>
- <LI> optional separator in <CODE>string.rep</CODE>
- <LI> <CODE>file:write</CODE> returns <CODE>file</CODE>
- <LI> closing a pipe returns exit status
- <LI> <CODE>os.exit</CODE> may close state
- <LI> new metamethods <CODE>__pairs</CODE> and <CODE>__ipairs</CODE>
- <LI> new option 'isrunning' for <CODE>collectgarbage</CODE> and <CODE>lua_gc</CODE>
- <LI> frontier patterns
- <LI> <CODE>\0</CODE> in patterns
- <LI> new option <CODE>*L</CODE> for <CODE>io.read</CODE>
- <LI> options for <CODE>io.lines</CODE>
- <LI> <CODE>debug.getlocal</CODE> can access function varargs
- </UL>
- <H3>C API</H3>
- <UL>
- <LI> main thread predefined in the registry
- <LI> new functions
- <CODE>lua_absindex</CODE>,
- <CODE>lua_arith</CODE>,
- <CODE>lua_compare</CODE>,
- <CODE>lua_copy</CODE>,
- <CODE>lua_len</CODE>,
- <CODE>lua_rawgetp</CODE>,
- <CODE>lua_rawsetp</CODE>,
- <CODE>lua_upvalueid</CODE>,
- <CODE>lua_upvaluejoin</CODE>,
- <CODE>lua_version</CODE>.
- <LI> new functions
- <CODE>luaL_checkversion</CODE>,
- <CODE>luaL_setmetatable</CODE>,
- <CODE>luaL_testudata</CODE>,
- <CODE>luaL_tolstring</CODE>.
- <LI> <CODE>lua_pushstring</CODE> and <CODE>pushlstring</CODE> return string
- <LI> <CODE>nparams</CODE> and <CODE>isvararg</CODE> available in debug API
- <LI> new <CODE>lua_Unsigned</CODE>
- </UL>
- <H3>Implementation</H3>
- <UL>
- <LI> max constants per function raised to 2<SUP>26</SUP>
- <LI> generational mode for garbage collection (experimental)
- <LI> NaN trick (experimental)
- <LI> internal (immutable) version of ctypes
- <LI> simpler implementation for string buffers
- <LI> parser uses much less C-stack space (no more auto arrays)
- </UL>
- <H3>Lua standalone interpreter</H3>
- <UL>
- <LI> new <CODE>-E</CODE> option to avoid environment variables
- <LI> handling of non-string error messages
- </UL>
- <H2><A NAME="license">License</A></H2>
- <A HREF="http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php">
- <IMG SRC="osi-certified-72x60.png" ALIGN="right" BORDER="0" ALT="[osi certified]" STYLE="padding-left: 30px ;">
- </A>
- <P>
- Lua is free software distributed under the terms of the
- <A HREF="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html">MIT license</A>
- reproduced below;
- it may be used for any purpose, including commercial purposes,
- at absolutely no cost without having to ask us.
- The only requirement is that if you do use Lua,
- then you should give us credit by including the appropriate copyright notice somewhere in your product or its documentation.
- For details, see
- <A HREF="http://www.lua.org/license.html">this</A>.
- <BLOCKQUOTE STYLE="padding-bottom: 0em">
- Copyright © 1994–2013 Lua.org, PUC-Rio.
- <P>
- Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
- of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
- in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
- to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
- copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
- furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
- <P>
- The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
- all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
- <P>
- THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
- IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
- FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
- AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
- LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
- OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
- THE SOFTWARE.
- </BLOCKQUOTE>
- <P>
- <HR>
- <SMALL CLASS="footer">
- Last update:
- Sat Nov 9 22:39:16 BRST 2013
- </SMALL>
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- Last change: revised for Lua 5.2.3
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