Associate Professor Roberto Ierusalimschy, Pontifical University in Rio de Janeiro

Session: Scripting and DSLs

Abstract: Lua is an embeddable scripting language that aims for simplicity, small size, portability, and performance. Unlike most other scripting languages, Lua has a strong focus on embeddability, favoring a development style where parts of an application are written in a "hard" language (such as C or C++) and parts are written in Lua. Currently Lua is used in a vast range of applications and is almost a standard for scripting in the game industry. In this talk we will see an overview of Lua, covering how it differs from other scripting languages and how it achieves these differences. We will have a taste of the language and also of its interface to C, which is an integral part of Lua. We will also cover Lua's evolution and its current status.