And at a fraction of the time it would cost you to create an extra C module using the Lua/C API. Many of the simpler C functions can probably be used directly from your Lua code, without any wrappers. Side note: the zlib API uses the long type for passing lengths and sizes around. But all those zlib functions actually only deal with 32 bit values. The Cosmo C API is currently undocumented, however as soon as development has reached a stable state documentation on full language features and the C API will start. About Embeddable scripting language loosely based off of Lua.

manual·readme·books·papers·faq·wiki·source code·versions·bugs·license·getting started

Reference manual

The official definition of the Lua language is itsreference manual,which describes the syntax and the semantics of Lua,the standard libraries, and the C API.

Thereference manual for Lua 5.4is available onlinein Englishonly.

Thereference manual for Lua 5.3is available onlinein EnglishandRussian.

Thereference manual for Lua 5.2is available onlinein English,Portuguese,and Polish.

Thereference manual for Lua 5.1is available onlinein English,Portuguese,Spanish,German,andPolish.It is also available as a book in English.

Technical documentation

For more technical information,see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)and some oldseminar slides.For detailed technical information on specific topics,see our old series ofLua Technical Notesand thewikiatlua-users.org,specially thetutorial.You may also browse thesource code.

Papers

There are manypapers and thesesrelated to Lua.Here are the main ones written by the Luateam.See also theLabLua publications.

The main academic paper about Luadiscusses the philosophy behind its design:

Lua – an extensible extension languageby R. Ierusalimschy, L. H. de Figueiredo, W. Celes,
Software: Practice & Experience26 #6 (1996) 635–652.[doi]
This paper was awarded thefirst prize (technological category)in theII Compaq Award for Research and Development in Computer Science in 1997.This award was a joint venture ofCompaq Computer in Brazil,theBrazilian Ministry of Science and Technology,and theBrazilian Academy of Sciences.

For an overview of how Lua is designed, see

A look at the design of Luaby R. Ierusalimschy, L. H. de Figueiredo, W. Celes,
Communications of the ACM61 #11 (2018) 114–123.[doi ·video]

For a short exposition of the API design, see

Passing a language through the eye of a needleby R. Ierusalimschy, L. H. de Figueiredo, W. Celes,
ACM Queue9 #5 (May 2011) 20–29.[doi·acm]
Communications of the ACM54 #7 (July 2011) 38–43.[doi·acm]

It is also available in Portuguese:

Passando uma linguagem pelo buraco de uma agulhapor R. Ierusalimschy, L. H. de Figueiredo, W. Celes,
ACM Queue9 #5 (May 2011) 20–29.

For details on the implementation of Lua, see

The implementation of Lua 5.0by R. Ierusalimschy, L. H. de Figueiredo, W. Celes,
Journal of Universal Computer Science11 #7 (2005) 1159–1176.[doi·slides]

For details on the role of first-class functions in Lua, see

First-class functions in an imperative worldby R. Ierusalimschy,
Journal of Universal Computer Science23 #1 (2017) 112–126.[doi·slides]

For a discussion of coroutines in Lua, see

Coroutines in Luaby A. L. de Moura, N. Rodriguez, R. Ierusalimschy,
Journal of Universal Computer Science10 #7 (2004) 910–925.[doi·slides]

For a complete history of Lua till 2006, see

The evolution of Luaby R. Ierusalimschy, L. H. de Figueiredo, W. Celes,
Proceedings of ACM HOPL III (2007) 2-1–2-26.[doi·slides]

For a history of Lua till 2001, see

The evolution of an extension language:a history of Luaby R. Ierusalimschy, L. H. de Figueiredo, W. Celes,
Proceedings of V Brazilian Symposium on Programming Languages(2001) B-14–B-28.[ps]

The first paper describing Lua has some historical interest:

The design and implementation of a language for extending applicationsby L. H. de Figueiredo, R. Ierusalimschy, W. Celes,
Proceedings of XXI Brazilian Seminar on Software and Hardware (1994) 273–283.[ps]

For an early expository article, see

Lua: an extensible embedded languageby L. H. de Figueiredo, R. Ierusalimschy, W. Celes,
Dr. Dobb's Journal21 #12 (Dec 1996) 26–33.[ddj]

For introductory texts in Portuguese, see

Uma introdução à programação em Luaby R. Ierusalimschy,JAI 2009 (Jul 2009).
A linguagem Lua e suas aplicações em jogosby W. Celes, L. H. Figueiredo, R. Ierusalimschy
WJogos 2004 (Oct 2004).[slides]

Books

Lua books are available at the main online storesand also as e-books atFeisty Duck.When you buy a copy of a book published by Lua.org,you help to support the Lua project.

Reference manual

The official definition of the Lua language:

Lua 5.1 Reference Manualby R. Ierusalimschy, L. H. de Figueiredo, W. Celes,
Lua.org, August 2006
ISBN 8590379833

The reference manuals for later versions of Lua are availableonline.

Programming in Lua

A detailed and authoritative introduction toall aspects of Lua programming,by Lua's chief architect:

Programming in Luaby R. Ierusalimschy
Lua.org, fourth edition, August 2016
ISBN 8590379868
(also available as ane-book)

The fourth edition is aimed at Lua 5.3and marks a complete reorganization of the text.The first edition isavailable online.It was aimed at Lua 5.0 and is still largely relevant.

The third edition was aimed at Lua 5.2 and remains quite relevant.It is available inEnglish,Portuguese,and Russian:

Programming in Luaby Roberto Ierusalimschy
Lua.org, third edition, January 2013
ISBN 859037985X
(also available ase-book)

Programando em Luapor Roberto Ierusalimschy
LTC, January 2015
ISBN 9788521626992

Programmirovanie na iazyke Luaby Roberto Ierusalimschy
DMK-press, 2014
ISBN 5940747671

The second edition remains relevant and is available inGerman,Korean,Chinese,and Japanese:

Programmieren mit Luavon Roberto Ierusalimschy
Open Source Press, September 2006
ISBN 3937514228

Programming in Luaby Roberto Ierusalimschy
Insight, June 2007
ISBN 9788991268302

Programming in Luaby Roberto Ierusalimschy
Publishing House of Electronic Industry, May 2008
ISBN 9787121061875

Programming in Luaby Roberto Ierusalimschy
ASCII Media Works, Aug 2009
ISBN 9784048677974

Lua Programming Gems

A collection of articles recording some of the existing wisdom and practice on how to program well in Lua:

Lua Programming Gemsedited by L. H. de Figueiredo, W. Celes, R. Ierusalimschy,Lua.org, December 2008
ISBN 9788590379843
(also available ase-book)

Other books

There are also books about Lua written by other authors:

Coding With Roblox Lua in 24 Hours: The Official Roblox Guideby Roblox Corporation.Sams Publishing, 2021, ISBN 9780136829423.
Coding Roblox Games Made Easy: The ultimate guide to creating games with Roblox Studio and Lua programmingby Zander Brumbaugh.Packt Publishing, 2021, ISBN 9781800561991.
Initiation à la création de jeux vidéo en Lua avec Löve2Dby Anthony Cardinale.Éditions D-BookeR, 2020, ISBN 9782822709675.
Lua Quick Reference (second edition)by Mitchell.Triple Quasar Books, 2020, ISBN 9780991237951.
Developing Games on the Raspberry Pi:App Programming with Lua and LÖVEby Seth Kenlon.Apress, 2019, ISBN 9781484241707.
Lua Programming using Robloxby SimTek Game Development.Independently published, 2019, ISBN 9781693427443.

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