Numbers in Lua 5.3work

[Mike Nelson <mikestar1313@...>]

All the discussion about integers really has me wondering how this is 
all going to work. I feel that there is the potential for a lot of nasty 
surprises at the new behaviour of integers and floats silently 
interconverting. I can see how a distinct integer type would work: think 
C.  The integer subtype leaves me feeling uneasy. This is not a problem 
for my current use cases: I can stick with Lua 5.2 and its all number 
are floats (actually doubles in the default configuration) model, the 
same number model that has been used from the beginning. For use cases 
where I would need to work in integer but could dispense with floats, I 
can compile 5.2 with int or long as the number type.  Where 5.3 would be 
useful is when I would need actual integers but couldn't dispense with 
floats--but in that case, explicit integer and float types would work as 
well as  subtypes, with fewer surprises. Yet a full integer/float type 
system would break too much existing code. I don't envy the Lua team 
here--it's very debatable which is the best way to go.

Other features of 5.3work are quite good: The utf8 library is so good 
that I have backported it to Lua 5.2; and while my current use cases are 
not helped by moving bit operations into the core, it causes me no 
problems and is quite useful for those who use bit operations frequently.

-- Mike Nelson