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Ask HN: Why don't people use Lua more often?

8 points by voxx ↗ HN
It's dynamically typed, it's really cool, it has some neat features rarely seen in other "hallmark" languages. I think it needs more attention. I'm not a guru code monkey though, and I'd like some exposure and opposing opinions.

8 comments

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zdw
Pros: It's small and you can embed it, both into higher level languages, and it's footprint is small enough for embedded systems. It's used in a LOT of gaming related things (WoW, most games on portable with a scripting languages), and even desktop software (ex: Adobe Lightroom). It has a JIT for some CPU types, and gets great performance.

Cons: There aren't that great of CLI tools or REPL's available (mainly to keep the system small). It's standard library is lacking in some parts (by intention to keep it small) compared to other scripting languages. Embedded tech isn't as sexy as frontend tech like javascript/etc. It doesn't come bundled by default with our OS's, unlike perl/python/ruby. The development team is somewhat closed, being a university project from the start.

TL;DR: Lua tries to stay small, and as a result it isn't as much of a multi-tool like other scripting languages.

justincormack
Its getting more use, judging from comments before 37 signals are using it embedded in Nginx, Redis has it embedded, people are discovering it.
voxx
I hope it goes big, it's awesome.
aq11
Number 1 reason: The standard library is tiny, so you need to pull in a lot of 3rd party modules (or write stuff yourself) for things that are just "batteries included" in Python or Ruby.
voxx
If people started committing code and expanding Lua's stdlibs, would it be able to compete with Ruby/Python/Perl?
pheon
1) lua is not owned/marketed/pimped by any company

2) lua has no primary app domain/killer app. games to web to embedded to.. ?

3) lua is happy being itself. dosent try to "be the solution", its just a tool.

voxx
wait, are you saying that lua isn't used in any major games, because I can find a list of at least twenty big games that lua is used in.

As far as marketing goes, I've never seen a company really stick its neck out and brag abput Lisp, but Lisp is somehow still used even today.

lastly, if you think that language designers seriously design languages with the attitude that their language will outdo every other language, I'll begin to question not only your intelligence, but also your credibility and sobriety.

callmeed
It's strange, I was actually looking for a freelance Lua developer last year and had a hard time finding one. Adobe Lightroom's SDK is in Lua and I need to create a couple plugins (and don't have time myself).

You'd think Adobe would put more resources into promoting the language.