Interesting Lua Fact...

[Falco Girgis]

So I have been playing around with Lua at work. I'm compiling everything myself to my own static library (rather than downloading a precompiled one). So APPARENTLY I didn't add the lexical analyzer or parser when I built my static library. So instead of bitching at me, it turns out that Lua didn't care.

Lua was designed so that the lexer/parser could be taken out at a 35% size decrease, which is totally beneficial for embedded systems (such as Dreamcast, PSP, and iPhone).

So I was freaking the fuck out wondering why my simple luaL_dostring() and luaL_dofile() didn't do anything. I was too lazy to fetch the error code and string for awhile. When I finally got around to it, I was told "parser not loaded."

Once again, Lua is too eloquent, intricate, and beautiful for me to handle.

What the official Lua site has to say about it:
http://www.lua.org/notes/ltn002.html

[K-Bal]

Nice. 24k for a complete scripting language

[M_D_K]

Very nice!

Here is another interesting lua fact...it has multi line comments. I seriously thought I was stuck doing --This is a comment.
Although the multi line is more key presses then that so only good for nice big rants about how Peter broke the code

Code: Select all

--[=[
ZOMG Multiline
COMMMMMENT!!
--]=]

[Falco Girgis]

Actually, Peter has been using multi-line comments in our code for quite awhile...

[M_D_K]

Actually, Peter has been using multi-line comments in our code for quite awhile...

Sorry I must have missed the memo

[dandymcgee]

Very nice!

Here is another interesting lua fact...it has multi line comments. I seriously thought I was stuck doing --This is a comment.
Although the multi line is more key presses then that so only good for nice big rants about how Peter broke the code

Code: Select all

--[=[
ZOMG Multiline
COMMMMMENT!!
--]=]

Awesome!

[davidthefat]

You know there are tons of Homebrew for psp all programmed in LUA?

[M_D_K]

You know there are tons of Homebrew for psp all programmed in LUA?

LuaPlayer is like the gamemaker of the PSP homebrew scene. The system is solid and easy to use, but too many people releasing pieces of crap made with it.

[sparda]

Here is another interesting lua fact...it has multi line comments.

Nice, I wasn't aware of Lua's multiline comment ability. Although, I have to say, that Lua comment-token and its delimiter are ugly as a hairy butt. Compare

Code: Select all

--[=[
ZOMG Multiline
COMMMMMENT!!
--]=]

To Python's:

Code: Select all

"""
ZOMG Multiline
COMMMMMENT!!
"""

I say python wins

Lua was designed so that the lexer/parser could be taken out at a 35% size decrease, which is totally beneficial for embedded systems (such as Dreamcast, PSP, and iPhone).

By my calculation if there is a 35% reduction, that means that the default Lua setup would be roughly ~35k. Is it really that much? I mean, when the Dreamcast has 16 + 2 + 8 MBs and the PSP has 32MB of memory, 35k footprint seems a rather negligible amount still (To this day, I can't believe the Dreamcast has less dedicated memory than something as small as the PSP or iPhone). The iPhone is outrageous, with 128MB DRAM, so nothing to worry about there. So for elysianshadows on Dreamcast, I say compile the whole thing, and luaL_dostring()

<Lame excuse for a jokez>
Those lua function names prompted me to this hilarious (did I mention hilarious?) joke (drum rolls please):

While you're at it, call luaL_dokindall( nicely ) and luaL_doMar( gently ). I'll call both luaL_doavan( gently ) and luaL_doM_D_K( grab_his_boobs ). I have to be careful, as the latter has a runtime complexity of O( n^(n) * factorial(factorial(factorial(n))) )
</Lame excuse for a jokez>

[LeonBlade]

Wow, LuaPlayer looks pretty cool, didn't know about it.
But I agree with the Game Maker comparison...

[davidthefat]

You know there are tons of Homebrew for psp all programmed in LUA?

LuaPlayer is like the gamemaker of the PSP homebrew scene. The system is solid and easy to use, but too many people releasing pieces of crap made with it.

LOL I actually agree to that

[K-Bal]

By my calculation if there is a 35% reduction, that means that the default Lua setup would be roughly ~35k. Is it really that much? I mean, when the Dreamcast has 16 + 2 + 8 MBs and the PSP has 32MB of memory, 35k footprint seems a rather negligible amount still (To this day, I can't believe the Dreamcast has less dedicated memory than something as small as the PSP or iPhone). The iPhone is outrageous, with 128MB DRAM, so nothing to worry about there. So for elysianshadows on Dreamcast, I say compile the whole thing, and luaL_dostring()

That is just the footprint size. It will take a more serious amount of RAM when you start compiling lua files on the fly.

[sparda]

compiling lua files on the fly

What do you mean? To my understanding, when you integrate Lua into your C/C++ project (i.e. using lua functions in your C/C++ program), you compile the Lua intepreter/vm directly into your app. Then the Lua scrips are merely ran, not compiled, from within your app. Then again, I could be wrong as I'm not familiar with lua at all, but the concept is general.

If you can dynamically allocate objects in lua (I don't know if that is possible), then perhaps its footprint would grow. That's one possibility I see. I'm sure lua would have a garbage collector in that case; which would also increase memory usage. This has nothing to do with compiling scripts, that is not what interpreters do.

So K-Bal, maybe you meant something else? Clarify.

[K-Bal]

If you load a .lua file it gets compiled and than executed.

You can also use precompiled lua files using the luac.exe.

Just read the article Falco posted, it is explained in there.

[Falco Girgis]

compiling lua files on the fly

If you can dynamically allocate objects in lua (I don't know if that is possible), then perhaps its footprint would grow. That's one possibility I see. I'm sure lua would have a garbage collector in that case; which would also increase memory usage. This has nothing to do with compiling scripts, that is not what interpreters do.

... "dynamically allocate" in Lua? Dude, Lua is a scripting language. When can you STATICALLY allocate? XD