On Sun, 31 May 2015 08:51:58 -0400
Hendrik Boom <hendrik@???> wrote:

> On Thu, May 28, 2015 at 11:58:55PM -0400, Jude Nelson wrote:

> (II) Lua
>
> Lua is also popular as a scripting language. I believe it was
> *designed* as a scripting language.

I already mentioned that I'd prefer each application have its own
Domain Specific Language (DSL) as its core, rather than an actual
programming language. That has not changed, but let me tell you my
opinion of Lua:

Lua is IMHO the best all-around computer language in existance. With
its "all complex data represented by tables" philosophy, it's
conceptually simple and easy to learn and code. Its "first class
function" philosophy makes binding data and algorithm together easy,
without the artificial constraints of OOP. Its easy to implement
closures make some pretty complex stuff easy.

Every human on earth should learn Lua. Learning Lua is like taking a
Data Structures and Algorithms class. All this stuff that you used to
read about, that you just couldn't quite understand, pops into place
once you learn Lua.

The only reason I use Python instead of Lua is that Python comes with
tried and true and tested addons such that you know if you start it in
Python, you'll finish it in Python. Lua addons haven't reached that
level of ubiquity and reliability, and having Lua addons do so isn't a
priority for the project.

Another thing. If you want to bind C to a "scripting language" back and
forth, there's no better language than Lua. That was a major priority
in Lua's design.

Oh, and one more thing: Lua's faster than greased lightning, and if you
want faster still, you can use its Just In Time facility, LuaJit.

Here's some Lua info I've put together:

http://troubleshooters.com/codecorn/lua/index.htm

I vote for each app having its own non-Turing-complete DSL as its core.
But if a Turing-Complete language *must* be selected, I can think of
none better than Lua. By a long shot.

SteveT

Steve Litt
May 2015 featured book: Quit Joblessness: Start Your Own Business
http://www.troubleshooters.com/startbiz