RE: newbie: how to modify lua code while the program is running like visual basic

[yoyomeltz yoyomeltz <yoyomeltz@...>]

thanks for the reply.
i have been able to dynamically reload a module. that works fine.
no debbuger needed.
i posted some sample code to this list.

________________________________
> Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2012 00:01:27 +0100 
> From: robert.virding@erlang-solutions.com 
> To: lua-l@lists.lua.org 
> Subject: Re: newbie: how to modify lua code while the program is  
> running like visual basic 
>  
> I am not a Lua expert so I don't know how it handles this. 
>  
> To modify code inside a debugger or IDE is the easy part. The  
> interesting part is doing it in running production systems. For that  
> you need a very clear definition of what it means to load code and how  
> this affects the system. For example if you reload a function which  
> someone is executing how will it be affected. You need support from the  
> underlying system/implementation to do this. I come from another world,  
> erlang, where this is defined and it is only because it is defined that  
> you can dynamically manage code at runtime. 
>  
> So something similar would be needed in Lua to do this properly. It  
> depends, of course, whether this is a goal for the language or not. 
>  
> Robert 
>  
> ________________________________ 
> Philippe, thanks for the reply. 
> so i am been programming in Basic for over 38 years. 
> my first computer had a version of basic hand-coded by bill gates, in  
> the 1970's. 
>  
> yes, it is true that visual basic does require the use of an IDE but  
> visual basic for application does have a interactive console. 
> yes, i use print() and that works  and only for people who cannot do  
> edit-and-continue are doomed to be punished with just print(). 
> not a very nice solution when i am trying to teach programming concepts  
> to children. 
>  
> lol, i used to program using punch cards on an ibm mainframe, perhaps  
> we should downgrade back to that, who needs keyboards anyway... 
>  
> since i first asked my question, and based on some posts and doing some  
> research, edit-and-continue can in fact be done for Lua from the  
> interactive console. 
>  
> it is much more then a crutch or convenience. 
> anybody that has not tried it should not trivialize it. 
> all the more so for Lua. 
> Lua is designed to be a embedded solution, often used by non-programmers. 
> for example, arrays indexes start from 1, not zero. 
>  
> you should take a look at the posts by Kevin T. Ryan. 
> one example of what he wrote is: 
> "You may want to try ZeroBrane Studio: 
>  >>  
> http://notebook.kulchenko.com/zerobrane/live-coding-in-lua-bret-victor-style"; 
>  
> after looking at the videos, let me know what you think. youtube has  
> some great videos. 
> look at the zues editor for Lua videos 
> thanks and enjoy. 
>  
>  > To: lua-l@lists.lua.org 
>  > From: PhiLho@GMX.net 
>  > Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:44:44 +0200 
>  > Subject: Re: newbie: how to modify lua code while the program is  
> running like visual basic 
>  > 
>  > On 21/06/2012 21:41, yoyomeltz yoyomeltz wrote: 
>  > > kevin, thanks you much. it does seem to offer what i wanted but the  
> problem is i would be 
>  > > locked into an ide that does not seem to offer much else. 
>  > > 
>  > > there has to be a simple way to dynamically reload code as needed via a 
>  > > console/command.line or other simple solution. 
>  > > if visual basic from microsoft can do it and python can do it, then  
> why should i be an 
>  > > issue for Lua. 
>  > > even visual basic 6.0 from 10 years ago can do that. 
>  > > 
>  > > it seems to me this such a feature is a pre-requisite for learning  
> any language, espcially 
>  > > a lightweight scripting language. 
>  > > so does anybody have any other suggestions? 
>  > 
>  > Well, if I am not mistaken, VB is "locked into an IDE"... 
>  > I don't know for Python. 
>  > Debugging is often tied to an IDE anyway, unless you are using some  
> command line debug 
>  > tool (but that's still a tool, often separate of the compiler /  
> interpreter, no?). 
>  > 
>  > Eclipse (and probably other Java IDEs as well) allows such hot fix,  
> changing code while 
>  > running and the program continue to run with this change. 
>  > Now, it has some limitations: if you change a method while debugging  
> in it, Eclipse puts 
>  > the current program line pointer to the start of the method. 
>  > If you change deeply a class, eg. the visibility of a method, or a  
> new method, it tells 
>  > you it can't do the hot fix and shows markers in the debug stack  
> trace to show the code is 
>  > no longer synchronized. 
>  > 
>  > So it isn't a perfect feature for every language / IDE. Just a very  
> convenient feature! 
>  > 
>  > Note: don't under-evaluate the power of print() in tracing /  
> debugging Lua! :-) 
>  > 
>  > -- 
>  > Philippe Lhoste 
>  > -- (near) Paris -- France 
>  > -- http://Phi.Lho.free.fr 
>  > -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
>  > 
>  > 
>  > 
>  > 
>