14ab4902eSlneto<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> 2dbec5304Smbalmer<HTML> 3dbec5304Smbalmer<HEAD> 4f0dad708Snikita<TITLE>Lua 5.4 readme</TITLE> 5dbec5304Smbalmer<LINK REL="stylesheet" TYPE="text/css" HREF="lua.css"> 64ab4902eSlneto<META HTTP-EQUIV="content-type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> 74ab4902eSlneto<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> 84ab4902eSlnetoblockquote, .display { 94ab4902eSlneto border: solid #a0a0a0 2px ; 10f03f2e0fSmbalmer border-radius: 8px ; 114ab4902eSlneto padding: 1em ; 124ab4902eSlneto margin: 0px ; 134ab4902eSlneto} 144ab4902eSlneto 154ab4902eSlneto.display { 164ab4902eSlneto word-spacing: 0.25em ; 174ab4902eSlneto} 184ab4902eSlneto 194ab4902eSlnetodl.display dd { 204ab4902eSlneto padding-bottom: 0.2em ; 214ab4902eSlneto} 224ab4902eSlneto 234ab4902eSlnetott, kbd, code { 244ab4902eSlneto font-size: 12pt ; 254ab4902eSlneto} 264ab4902eSlneto</STYLE> 27dbec5304Smbalmer</HEAD> 28dbec5304Smbalmer 29dbec5304Smbalmer<BODY> 30dbec5304Smbalmer 31dbec5304Smbalmer<H1> 32f03f2e0fSmbalmer<A HREF="http://www.lua.org/"><IMG SRC="logo.gif" ALT="Lua"></A> 33f0dad708SnikitaWelcome to Lua 5.4 34dbec5304Smbalmer</H1> 35dbec5304Smbalmer 36f03f2e0fSmbalmer<DIV CLASS="menubar"> 374ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="#about">about</A> 384ab4902eSlneto· 394ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="#install">installation</A> 404ab4902eSlneto· 414ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="#changes">changes</A> 424ab4902eSlneto· 434ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="#license">license</A> 444ab4902eSlneto· 454ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="contents.html">reference manual</A> 46f03f2e0fSmbalmer</DIV> 47dbec5304Smbalmer 484ab4902eSlneto<H2><A NAME="about">About Lua</A></H2> 494ab4902eSlneto<P> 50f0dad708SnikitaLua is a powerful, efficient, lightweight, embeddable scripting language 514ab4902eSlnetodeveloped by a 524ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="http://www.lua.org/authors.html">team</A> 534ab4902eSlnetoat 544ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="http://www.puc-rio.br/">PUC-Rio</A>, 554ab4902eSlnetothe Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. 564ab4902eSlnetoLua is 574ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="#license">free software</A> 58f0dad708Snikitaused in 59f0dad708Snikita<A HREF="http://www.lua.org/uses.html">many products and projects</A> 60f0dad708Snikitaaround the world. 614ab4902eSlneto 624ab4902eSlneto<P> 63dbec5304SmbalmerLua's 64dbec5304Smbalmer<A HREF="http://www.lua.org/">official web site</A> 654ab4902eSlnetoprovides complete information 664ab4902eSlnetoabout Lua, 674ab4902eSlnetoincluding 684ab4902eSlnetoan 694ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="http://www.lua.org/about.html">executive summary</A> 704ab4902eSlnetoand 714ab4902eSlnetoupdated 724ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="http://www.lua.org/docs.html">documentation</A>, 73dbec5304Smbalmerespecially the 74f0dad708Snikita<A HREF="http://www.lua.org/manual/5.4/">reference manual</A>, 754ab4902eSlnetowhich may differ slightly from the 764ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="contents.html">local copy</A> 774ab4902eSlnetodistributed in this package. 784ab4902eSlneto 794ab4902eSlneto<H2><A NAME="install">Installing Lua</A></H2> 804ab4902eSlneto<P> 814ab4902eSlnetoLua is distributed in 824ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="http://www.lua.org/ftp/">source</A> 834ab4902eSlnetoform. 844ab4902eSlnetoYou need to build it before using it. 854ab4902eSlnetoBuilding Lua should be straightforward 864ab4902eSlnetobecause 874ab4902eSlnetoLua is implemented in pure ANSI C and compiles unmodified in all known 884ab4902eSlnetoplatforms that have an ANSI C compiler. 894ab4902eSlnetoLua also compiles unmodified as C++. 90f0dad708SnikitaThe instructions given below for building Lua are for Unix-like platforms, 91f0dad708Snikitasuch as Linux and Mac OS X. 924ab4902eSlnetoSee also 934ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="#other">instructions for other systems</A> 944ab4902eSlnetoand 954ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="#customization">customization options</A>. 964ab4902eSlneto 974ab4902eSlneto<P> 984ab4902eSlnetoIf you don't have the time or the inclination to compile Lua yourself, 994ab4902eSlnetoget a binary from 1004ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="http://lua-users.org/wiki/LuaBinaries">LuaBinaries</A>. 1014ab4902eSlneto 1024ab4902eSlneto<H3>Building Lua</H3> 1034ab4902eSlneto<P> 104f0dad708SnikitaIn most common Unix-like platforms, simply do "<KBD>make</KBD>". 1054ab4902eSlnetoHere are the details. 1064ab4902eSlneto 1074ab4902eSlneto<OL> 1084ab4902eSlneto<LI> 1094ab4902eSlnetoOpen a terminal window and move to 110*bdda0531Snikitathe top-level directory, which is named <TT>lua-5.4.6</TT>. 1114ab4902eSlnetoThe <TT>Makefile</TT> there controls both the build process and the installation process. 1124ab4902eSlneto<P> 1134ab4902eSlneto<LI> 114f0dad708Snikita Do "<KBD>make</KBD>". The <TT>Makefile</TT> will guess your platform and build Lua for it. 115f0dad708Snikita<P> 116f0dad708Snikita<LI> 117f0dad708Snikita If the guess failed, do "<KBD>make help</KBD>" and see if your platform is listed. 1184ab4902eSlneto The platforms currently supported are: 1194ab4902eSlneto<P> 1204ab4902eSlneto<P CLASS="display"> 121*bdda0531Snikita guess aix bsd c89 freebsd generic ios linux linux-readline macosx mingw posix solaris 1224ab4902eSlneto</P> 1234ab4902eSlneto<P> 1244ab4902eSlneto If your platform is listed, just do "<KBD>make xxx</KBD>", where xxx 1254ab4902eSlneto is your platform name. 1264ab4902eSlneto<P> 1274ab4902eSlneto If your platform is not listed, try the closest one or posix, generic, 12873008250Slneto c89, in this order. 1294ab4902eSlneto<P> 1304ab4902eSlneto<LI> 1314ab4902eSlnetoThe compilation takes only a few moments 1324ab4902eSlnetoand produces three files in the <TT>src</TT> directory: 1334ab4902eSlnetolua (the interpreter), 1344ab4902eSlnetoluac (the compiler), 1354ab4902eSlnetoand liblua.a (the library). 1364ab4902eSlneto<P> 1374ab4902eSlneto<LI> 1384ab4902eSlneto To check that Lua has been built correctly, do "<KBD>make test</KBD>" 1394ab4902eSlneto after building Lua. This will run the interpreter and print its version. 1404ab4902eSlneto</OL> 1414ab4902eSlneto<P> 142f0dad708SnikitaIf you're running Linux, try "<KBD>make linux-readline</KBD>" to build the interactive Lua interpreter with handy line-editing and history capabilities. 143f0dad708SnikitaIf you get compilation errors, 144f03f2e0fSmbalmermake sure you have installed the <TT>readline</TT> development package 145f03f2e0fSmbalmer(which is probably named <TT>libreadline-dev</TT> or <TT>readline-devel</TT>). 1464ab4902eSlnetoIf you get link errors after that, 147f0dad708Snikitathen try "<KBD>make linux-readline MYLIBS=-ltermcap</KBD>". 1484ab4902eSlneto 1494ab4902eSlneto<H3>Installing Lua</H3> 1504ab4902eSlneto<P> 1514ab4902eSlneto Once you have built Lua, you may want to install it in an official 1524ab4902eSlneto place in your system. In this case, do "<KBD>make install</KBD>". The official 1534ab4902eSlneto place and the way to install files are defined in the <TT>Makefile</TT>. You'll 154f0dad708Snikita probably need the right permissions to install files, and so may need to do "<KBD>sudo make install</KBD>". 1554ab4902eSlneto 1564ab4902eSlneto<P> 157f0dad708Snikita To build and install Lua in one step, do "<KBD>make all install</KBD>", 158f0dad708Snikita or "<KBD>make xxx install</KBD>", 1594ab4902eSlneto where xxx is your platform name. 1604ab4902eSlneto 1614ab4902eSlneto<P> 162f0dad708Snikita To install Lua locally after building it, do "<KBD>make local</KBD>". 1634ab4902eSlneto This will create a directory <TT>install</TT> with subdirectories 1644ab4902eSlneto <TT>bin</TT>, <TT>include</TT>, <TT>lib</TT>, <TT>man</TT>, <TT>share</TT>, 1654ab4902eSlneto and install Lua as listed below. 1664ab4902eSlneto 1674ab4902eSlneto To install Lua locally, but in some other directory, do 1684ab4902eSlneto "<KBD>make install INSTALL_TOP=xxx</KBD>", where xxx is your chosen directory. 1694ab4902eSlneto The installation starts in the <TT>src</TT> and <TT>doc</TT> directories, 1704ab4902eSlneto so take care if <TT>INSTALL_TOP</TT> is not an absolute path. 1714ab4902eSlneto 1724ab4902eSlneto<DL CLASS="display"> 1734ab4902eSlneto<DT> 1744ab4902eSlneto bin: 1754ab4902eSlneto<DD> 1764ab4902eSlneto lua luac 1774ab4902eSlneto<DT> 1784ab4902eSlneto include: 1794ab4902eSlneto<DD> 180f03f2e0fSmbalmer lua.h luaconf.h lualib.h lauxlib.h lua.hpp 1814ab4902eSlneto<DT> 1824ab4902eSlneto lib: 1834ab4902eSlneto<DD> 1844ab4902eSlneto liblua.a 1854ab4902eSlneto<DT> 1864ab4902eSlneto man/man1: 1874ab4902eSlneto<DD> 1884ab4902eSlneto lua.1 luac.1 1894ab4902eSlneto</DL> 1904ab4902eSlneto 1914ab4902eSlneto<P> 1924ab4902eSlneto These are the only directories you need for development. 1934ab4902eSlneto If you only want to run Lua programs, 1944ab4902eSlneto you only need the files in <TT>bin</TT> and <TT>man</TT>. 1954ab4902eSlneto The files in <TT>include</TT> and <TT>lib</TT> are needed for 1964ab4902eSlneto embedding Lua in C or C++ programs. 1974ab4902eSlneto 1984ab4902eSlneto<H3><A NAME="customization">Customization</A></H3> 1994ab4902eSlneto<P> 2004ab4902eSlneto Three kinds of things can be customized by editing a file: 2014ab4902eSlneto<UL> 2024ab4902eSlneto <LI> Where and how to install Lua — edit <TT>Makefile</TT>. 2034ab4902eSlneto <LI> How to build Lua — edit <TT>src/Makefile</TT>. 2044ab4902eSlneto <LI> Lua features — edit <TT>src/luaconf.h</TT>. 2054ab4902eSlneto</UL> 2064ab4902eSlneto 2074ab4902eSlneto<P> 2084ab4902eSlneto You don't actually need to edit the Makefiles because you may set the 2094ab4902eSlneto relevant variables in the command line when invoking make. 2104ab4902eSlneto Nevertheless, it's probably best to edit and save the Makefiles to 2114ab4902eSlneto record the changes you've made. 2124ab4902eSlneto 2134ab4902eSlneto<P> 2144ab4902eSlneto On the other hand, if you need to customize some Lua features, you'll need 2154ab4902eSlneto to edit <TT>src/luaconf.h</TT> before building and installing Lua. 2164ab4902eSlneto The edited file will be the one installed, and 2174ab4902eSlneto it will be used by any Lua clients that you build, to ensure consistency. 2184ab4902eSlneto Further customization is available to experts by editing the Lua sources. 2194ab4902eSlneto 2204ab4902eSlneto<H3><A NAME="other">Building Lua on other systems</A></H3> 2214ab4902eSlneto<P> 2224ab4902eSlneto If you're not using the usual Unix tools, then the instructions for 2234ab4902eSlneto building Lua depend on the compiler you use. You'll need to create 2244ab4902eSlneto projects (or whatever your compiler uses) for building the library, 2254ab4902eSlneto the interpreter, and the compiler, as follows: 2264ab4902eSlneto 2274ab4902eSlneto<DL CLASS="display"> 2284ab4902eSlneto<DT> 2294ab4902eSlnetolibrary: 2304ab4902eSlneto<DD> 231f0dad708Snikitalapi.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 232f0dad708Snikitalauxlib.c lbaselib.c lcorolib.c ldblib.c liolib.c lmathlib.c loadlib.c loslib.c lstrlib.c ltablib.c lutf8lib.c linit.c 2334ab4902eSlneto<DT> 2344ab4902eSlnetointerpreter: 2354ab4902eSlneto<DD> 2364ab4902eSlneto library, lua.c 2374ab4902eSlneto<DT> 2384ab4902eSlnetocompiler: 2394ab4902eSlneto<DD> 2404ab4902eSlneto library, luac.c 2414ab4902eSlneto</DL> 2424ab4902eSlneto 2434ab4902eSlneto<P> 244f0dad708Snikita To use Lua as a library in your own programs, you'll need to know how to 2454ab4902eSlneto create and use libraries with your compiler. Moreover, to dynamically load 246f0dad708Snikita C libraries for Lua, you'll need to know how to create dynamic libraries 2474ab4902eSlneto and you'll need to make sure that the Lua API functions are accessible to 2484ab4902eSlneto those dynamic libraries — but <EM>don't</EM> link the Lua library 2494ab4902eSlneto into each dynamic library. For Unix, we recommend that the Lua library 2504ab4902eSlneto be linked statically into the host program and its symbols exported for 2514ab4902eSlneto dynamic linking; <TT>src/Makefile</TT> does this for the Lua interpreter. 2524ab4902eSlneto For Windows, we recommend that the Lua library be a DLL. 25373008250Slneto In all cases, the compiler luac should be linked statically. 2544ab4902eSlneto 2554ab4902eSlneto<P> 2564ab4902eSlneto As mentioned above, you may edit <TT>src/luaconf.h</TT> to customize 2574ab4902eSlneto some features before building Lua. 2584ab4902eSlneto 259f0dad708Snikita<H2><A NAME="changes">Changes since Lua 5.3</A></H2> 2604ab4902eSlneto<P> 261f0dad708SnikitaHere are the main changes introduced in Lua 5.4. 2624ab4902eSlnetoThe 2634ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="contents.html">reference manual</A> 2644ab4902eSlnetolists the 2654ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="manual.html#8">incompatibilities</A> that had to be introduced. 2664ab4902eSlneto 2674ab4902eSlneto<H3>Main changes</H3> 2684ab4902eSlneto<UL> 269f0dad708Snikita<LI> new generational mode for garbage collection 270f0dad708Snikita<LI> to-be-closed variables 271f0dad708Snikita<LI> const variables 272f0dad708Snikita<LI> userdata can have multiple user values 273f0dad708Snikita<LI> new implementation for math.random 274f0dad708Snikita<LI> warning system 275f0dad708Snikita<LI> debug information about function arguments and returns 276f0dad708Snikita<LI> new semantics for the integer 'for' loop 277f0dad708Snikita<LI> optional 'init' argument to 'string.gmatch' 278f0dad708Snikita<LI> new functions 'lua_resetthread' and 'coroutine.close' 279f0dad708Snikita<LI> string-to-number coercions moved to the string library 280f0dad708Snikita<LI> allocation function allowed to fail when shrinking a memory block 281f0dad708Snikita<LI> new format '%p' in 'string.format' 282f0dad708Snikita<LI> utf8 library accepts codepoints up to 2^31 2834ab4902eSlneto</UL> 2844ab4902eSlneto 2854ab4902eSlneto<H2><A NAME="license">License</A></H2> 2864ab4902eSlneto<P> 287f03f2e0fSmbalmer<A HREF="http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php"> 288f03f2e0fSmbalmer<IMG SRC="osi-certified-72x60.png" ALIGN="right" ALT="[osi certified]" STYLE="padding-left: 30px ;"> 289f03f2e0fSmbalmer</A> 2904ab4902eSlnetoLua is free software distributed under the terms of the 2914ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html">MIT license</A> 2924ab4902eSlnetoreproduced below; 2934ab4902eSlnetoit may be used for any purpose, including commercial purposes, 2944ab4902eSlnetoat absolutely no cost without having to ask us. 2954ab4902eSlneto 2964ab4902eSlnetoThe only requirement is that if you do use Lua, 2974ab4902eSlnetothen you should give us credit by including the appropriate copyright notice somewhere in your product or its documentation. 2984ab4902eSlneto 2994ab4902eSlnetoFor details, see 3004ab4902eSlneto<A HREF="http://www.lua.org/license.html">this</A>. 3014ab4902eSlneto 3024ab4902eSlneto<BLOCKQUOTE STYLE="padding-bottom: 0em"> 303*bdda0531SnikitaCopyright © 1994–2023 Lua.org, PUC-Rio. 3044ab4902eSlneto 3054ab4902eSlneto<P> 3064ab4902eSlnetoPermission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy 3074ab4902eSlnetoof this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal 3084ab4902eSlnetoin the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights 3094ab4902eSlnetoto use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell 3104ab4902eSlnetocopies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is 3114ab4902eSlnetofurnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: 3124ab4902eSlneto 3134ab4902eSlneto<P> 3144ab4902eSlnetoThe above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in 3154ab4902eSlnetoall copies or substantial portions of the Software. 3164ab4902eSlneto 3174ab4902eSlneto<P> 3184ab4902eSlnetoTHE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR 3194ab4902eSlnetoIMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, 3204ab4902eSlnetoFITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE 3214ab4902eSlnetoAUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER 3224ab4902eSlnetoLIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, 3234ab4902eSlnetoOUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN 3244ab4902eSlnetoTHE SOFTWARE. 3254ab4902eSlneto</BLOCKQUOTE> 326dbec5304Smbalmer<P> 327dbec5304Smbalmer 328f03f2e0fSmbalmer<P CLASS="footer"> 329dbec5304SmbalmerLast update: 330*bdda0531SnikitaTue May 2 20:08:55 UTC 2023 331f03f2e0fSmbalmer</P> 3324ab4902eSlneto<!-- 333*bdda0531SnikitaLast change: revised for Lua 5.4.6 3344ab4902eSlneto--> 335dbec5304Smbalmer 336dbec5304Smbalmer</BODY> 337dbec5304Smbalmer</HTML> 338
