Re: Lua libraries

[Philippe Lhoste <PhiLho@...>]

Jamey wrote:
> Speaking from a non-C programmer's point of view, I wouldn't mind doing 
> this at all. Sure, I would prefer to have an exe of lua that had the 
> ability to load dlls, and all of the popular lua libs compiled into 
> dlls, all kept up to date and just waiting for me to download. :) 
> That way, I could just include a "load xxx.dll" or something in my lua 
> script and, "bingo", I have access to odbc, smtp, iup, etc........
> 
> Ok, ok, I'll wake up from my daydreaming! :)

No daydreaming, if I understand correctly this long thread, that's the aim
of the loadlib / standard library work.

> What I meant to say was that, even though I don't know C at all, I 
> wouldn't have a problem if I had to do what Reuben wrote above in order 
> to have a lua exe on Windows that included the functionality I wanted. 
> I have BCC and Mingw installed on my pc. I would have no problem 
> downloading the lua source dist plus libraries and compiling, if, and 
> here's the rub, if I can get it to work!

Now, I don't follow you. I understand this can be a temporary workaround to
allow you to get the job done, but this is not a viable solution.
I want to be able to write a script, send it to a friend, with a standard
Lua exe and some needed libraries. Not build him a special exe, or even less to
tell him to build his Lua version.
I mean, you are still a bit beyond the final user playing with a scripting
language, and not even knowing what a compiler is.

And the biggest problem, I think, is that you can end with several different
versions of Lua, if you have scripts to play with OpenGL, some to perform
HTTP automation (with cURL!), others to generate Flash movies (with Ming!),
others to go general Windows (for example) scripting, etc.
Either you make a very generic Lua to handle all these tasks, and end up
with a giant exe; or you get n Lua exes, perhaps with n extensions of Lua
scripts if you want to avoid to manually call the right exe with the right
script...

[snip]
> Also, I would like to respond to an earlier post about Lua becoming like 
> Perl or Python. I have programmed in Perl, Tcl, Python, Ruby, Rebol, 
> you name it. I'm a scripting language junkie. I'm currently working on 
> a project at work. I contemplated using one of the languages mentioned 
> above and even went so far as to write one of the scripts in a couple of 
> different languages. I ended up picking Lua, not because the other 
> languages couldn't do it. In fact, because I need smtp, database 
> access, gui, file processing, directory processing, and external command 
> execution support, it might have been eaiser to pick Tcl or Python. But 
> I chose Lua because the language is incredibly clean and simple. I love 
> the way a table in Lua replaces hashes, lists, arrays, records, etc. I 
> love the simple, inuitive syntax.
> 
> So, sure I would love for Lua to be able to replace Perl, Python, and 
> Tcl in my day-to-day programming. But that doesn't mean I want Lua to 
> BECOME Perl, Python, Tcl, etc. Lua is an awesome language. All it 
> needs, IMHO, to supplant other scripting languages in a lot of 
> programmers' arsenals is to have the ability to make use of some of the 
> contributed libraries without having to crack open a C manual.

Amen! I think exactly like you! I don't like the Perl syntax, I haven't
learned (yet?) Python and don't have time to do so, etc.
I know a good language, and try to master it, and I want to use it for
various tasks, because I like it, and because it is easier and more consistent
this way.
I know most of the readers here know at least a dozen of languages and think
that you have to pick the right tool to do the right thing...
That's true, but one just don't have enough time to learn everything he
want...
Plus it would be nice, if the hypothetical libraries mentioned above (cURL,
Ming, etc.) existed, to have a consistent language accross them. End users
would have less trouble to master these. Same if we use Lua to script text
editor or other applications.

Regards.

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Philippe Lhoste (Paris -- France)
Professional programmer and amateur artist
http://jove.prohosting.com/~philho/
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