Editing Lua (section)

{{Short description|Lightweight programming language}}
{{other}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}{{Infobox programming language
| name = Lua
| logo = Lua-Logo.svg
| logo size = 140px
| screenshot = Excerpt of Coordinates module in Lua.png
| screenshot_size = 250px
| screenshot caption = Screenshot of Lua code from a [[WP:Lua|Wikipedia Lua module]] using the [[MediaWiki]] [[mw:Extension:Scribunto|Scribunto]] extension
| paradigm = [[Multi-paradigm]]: [[Scripting language|scripting]], [[Imperative programming|imperative]] ([[Procedural programming|procedural]], [[Prototype-based programming|prototype-based]], [[Object-oriented programming|object-oriented]]), [[Functional programming|functional]], [[Metaprogramming|meta]], [[Reflective programming|reflective]]
| year = {{Start date and age|1993|df=yes}}
| designer = [[Roberto Ierusalimschy]]<br/>Waldemar Celes<br/>Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo
| developer = 
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|reference|edit |Q207316 |P348}}
| latest release date = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|Q207316|P348|P577}}}}
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date = 
| typing = [[Dynamic typing|Dynamic]], [[Strong and weak typing|strong]], [[Duck typing|duck]]
| implementations = [//www.lua.org/download.html Lua], [[LuaJIT]], [//github.com/luavela/luavela LuaVela], 
[https://www.moonsharp.org/ MoonSharp],
| programming language = [[ANSI C]]
| dialects = [https://www.nongnu.org/gsl-shell/ GSL Shell], [https://luau.org Lua''u'']
| influenced by = [[C++]], [[CLU (programming language)|CLU]], [[Modula]], [[Scheme (programming language)|Scheme]], [[SNOBOL]]
| influenced = [[GameMonkey Script|GameMonkey]],<!--2003--> [[Io (programming language)|Io]],<!--2002--> [[JavaScript]]{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}, [[Julia (programming language)|Julia]],<!--2006--> [[Red (programming language)|Red]], [[Ring (programming language)|Ring]],<ref name="The Ring programming language and other languages">{{cite web |url=http://ring-lang.sourceforge.net/doc1.6/introduction.html#ring-and-other-languages |title=The Ring programming language and other languages |author=Ring Team |date=5 December 2017 |work=ring-lang.net |access-date=5 December 2017 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225175312/http://ring-lang.sourceforge.net/doc1.6/introduction.html#ring-and-other-languages |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Ruby (programming language)|Ruby]],{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} [[Squirrel (programming language)|Squirrel]],<!--2011--> [[C--]], [[Roblox Studio|Luau]],
| operating system = [[Cross-platform software|Cross-platform]]
| license = [[MIT License|MIT]]
| website = {{url|https://lua.org/}}
| file ext = <code>.lua</code>
| wikibooks = 
}}

'''Lua''' {{Noexcerpt|({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|uː|ə}} {{Respell|LOO|ə}}; from {{Langx|pt|[[wikt:lua#Portuguese|lua]]}} {{IPA|pt|ˈlu(w)ɐ|}} meaning ''[[moon]]'')}} is a [[Lightweight programming language|lightweight]], [[High-level programming language|high-level]], [[multi-paradigm programming language|multi-paradigm]] [[programming language]] designed mainly for [[Scripting language|embedded use]] in applications.<ref name="luaspe">{{cite journal|last1=Ierusalimschy|first1=Roberto|last2=de Figueiredo|first2=Luiz Henrique|last3=Filho|first3=Waldemar Celes|title=Lua—An Extensible Extension Language|journal=Software: Practice and Experience|date=June 1996|volume=26|issue=6|pages=635–652|doi=10.1002/(SICI)1097-024X(199606)26:6<635::AID-SPE26>3.0.CO;2-P|s2cid=61066194 |url=https://www.lua.org/spe.html|access-date=24 October 2015|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Lua is [[cross-platform software]], since the [[Interpreter (computing)|interpreter]] of [[Compiler|compiled]] [[bytecode]] is written in [[ANSI C]],<ref name=luaabout>{{cite web |url=https://www.lua.org/about.html#why |title=About Lua |publisher=Lua.org |access-date=2011-08-11}}</ref> and Lua has a relatively simple C application programming interface ([[API]]) to embed it into applications.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Takhteyev |first1=Yuri |date=21 April 2013 |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139332/yuri-takhteyev/from-brazil-to-wikipedia?page=2 |title=From Brazil to Wikipedia |magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]] |access-date=25 April 2013}}</ref>

Lua originated in 1993 as a language for extending [[application software|software applications]] to meet the increasing demand for customization at the time. It provided the basic facilities of most [[procedural programming]] languages, but more complicated or [[domain-specific language|domain-specific]] features were not included; rather, it included mechanisms for extending the language, allowing programmers to implement such features. As Lua was intended to be a general embeddable extension language, the designers of Lua focused on improving its [[Profiling (computer programming)|speed]], [[Porting|portability]], extensibility and ease-of-use in development.