Lua
A lightweight, embeddable scripting language with a small standalone interpreter.
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1 more ways to get Lua
Package managers
- Homebrew
brew install lua
About Lua
Lua is a scripting language built to be embedded inside other programs, where it serves as a configuration and extension language. It also ships as a standalone interpreter, so you can run Lua scripts directly from the command line.
The official site provides source downloads, reference documentation and community links. It suits developers who want a small scripting language for their own applications, and people who need Lua to write plugins or configuration for tools that already embed it.
Strengths
- Small interpreter that is easy to embed in other programs
- Simple language that is quick to learn
- Reference documentation published on the official site
Limitations
- Small standard library compared with general-purpose languages
- The official site distributes source code rather than ready-made installers
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree and open source.
- License
- MIT
- Developer
- Lua.org, PUC-Rio
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Works offline
- Yes
- Best suited for
- Developers who embed a scripting language or write plugins for Lua-based tools
- Categories
- Developer tools
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to Lua
Compare allSoftware that can replace Lua for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
Python
A general-purpose programming language used for scripting, web backends, data analysis and machine learning.
Python has a far larger standard library and package ecosystem than Lua, but it is heavier and less suited to embedding inside other programs.
Ruby
A dynamic, open-source programming language focused on simplicity and programmer productivity.
Ruby is a readable dynamic scripting language suited to scripting and web development, with a larger runtime than Lua's small embeddable interpreter.
Perl
A mature general-purpose scripting language known for text processing, with the large CPAN module archive.
Perl offers very strong text processing and over 42,000 CPAN distributions, but its terse syntax can be harder to read than Lua's simple language.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
LOVE
Framework for making 2D games in Lua.
LazyVim
A Neovim setup built on lazy.nvim that turns Neovim into a preconfigured IDE.
NvChad
A Neovim configuration base with fast startup, built-in UI plugins and dozens of themes.
AstroNvim
A ready-made Neovim configuration with preset plugins, language tooling and a modular structure.
Xonsh
A cross-platform shell whose language is a superset of Python 3 with shell commands built in.
