Re: [ANN] Lua 5.3.0 (work2) now available

[Andrew Starks <andrew.starks@...>]

On Saturday, March 22, 2014, Roberto Ierusalimschy <roberto@inf.puc-rio.br> wrote:
> > >> There is no direct conversion from strings to integers:
> > >> If a string is provided where an integer is needed,
> > >> Lua converts the string to a float and then the float to an integer.
> > Does it mean the following:
> > assert('100000000000000001'%2 == 0)
>
> Yes.
>
>
> > It looks unnaturally for a language having 64-bit integers as native
> > datatype.
>
> Coercion from strings to numbers are considered a bad thing, and can
> (should?) be removed in future versions. It did not seem worth to extend
> to the new integer stuff something already outdate. (Ideally it should
> raise an error, but that would create all sorts of incompatibilities.)
>
> In other words, it is unnatural, but the whole coercion stuff is unnatural.
>
> -- Roberto

I'd like to suggest that the timing for changes to coercion is in this release. 

You introduced int 64 and language support for bits, plus changes to number formatting. 5.3 looks to be shaping up to be a "number" release. Eliminating string->number fits this. 

There are new operators, which makes this release especially significant, already. As is, I believe that these works have will prove to compel people to upgrade.  Even if someone agrees with the change in coercion, often a business case is needed, in order to do the hard work of checking for new bugs. Since I believe that you have that here, it may be good to take advantage. 

It's easier to take medicine when it's washed down with something you like eating.

That's my perspective, anyway. 

Thank you for giving us this release!

-Andrew