Lua Overview

kc@example.com (kc kim) — Sun, 21 Apr 2024 20:50:00 +0900

Intended Audience

This article is intended for readers with experience programming in C or a related language such as C++, C#, or Java. Familiarity with basic syntax such as if, for, while, and defining functions is sufficient. However, the explanations are written to be understandable even for readers who do not know C or a similar language.

About the Lua Language

There is a reason this article assumes some knowledge of C or a similar language. Lua is commonly called from or embedded in C programs, so programs are rarely written only in Lua.

Setting Up the Development Environment

Setting Up the Environment on Windows

Download and install the latest version from the History section of the following page.

Lua Binaries

Setting Up the Environment on macOS

On macOS, install Lua with Homebrew using the following command.

https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/lua

brew install lua

After installation, check the version.

% lua -v
Lua 5.4.6  Copyright (C) 1994-2023 Lua.org, PUC-Rio

If the version is displayed, Lua was installed successfully.

Setting Up the Development Environment in Visual Studio Code

Installing Extensions

Open Visual Studio Code and install the Lua and Lua Debug extensions.

Then install Code Runner.

Running Lua

Create a Lua file, enter print("Hello World!"), and click the Run button.

The output is displayed as shown above.

Lua

kc@example.com (kc kim) — Sun, 21 Apr 2024 20:39:00 +0900

This section explains the Lua language.

https://www.lua.org/

devkuma – Lua