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HISTORY for Lua 5.1
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* Changes from version 5.0 to 5.1
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-------------------------------
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Language:
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+ new module system.
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+ new semantics for control variables of fors.
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+ new semantics for setn/getn.
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+ new syntax/semantics for varargs.
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+ new long strings and comments.
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+ new `mod' operator (`%')
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+ new length operator #t
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+ metatables for all types
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API:
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+ new functions: lua_createtable, lua_get(set)field, lua_push(to)integer.
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+ user supplies memory allocator (lua_open becomes lua_newstate).
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+ luaopen_* functionst must be called through Lua.
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Implementation:
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+ new configuration scheme via luaconf.h.
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+ incremental garbage collection.
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+ better handling of end-of-line in the lexer.
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+ fully reentrant parser (new Lua function `load')
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+ better support for 64-bit machines.
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+ native loadlib support for Mac OS X.
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+ standard distribution in only one library (lualib.a merged into lua.a)
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* Changes from version 4.0 to 5.0
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-------------------------------
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Language:
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+ lexical scoping.
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+ Lua coroutines.
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+ standard libraries now packaged in tables.
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+ tags replaced by metatables and tag methods replaced by metamethods,
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stored in metatables.
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+ proper tail calls.
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+ each function can have its own global table, which can be shared.
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+ new __newindex metamethod, called when we insert a new key into a table.
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+ new block comments: --[[ ... ]].
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+ new generic for.
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+ new weak tables.
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+ new boolean type.
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+ new syntax "local function".
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+ (f()) returns the first value returned by f.
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+ {f()} fills a table with all values returned by f.
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+ \n ignored in [[\n .
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+ fixed and-or priorities.
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+ more general syntax for function definition (e.g. function a.x.y:f()...end).
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+ more general syntax for function calls (e.g. (print or write)(9)).
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+ new functions (time/date, tmpfile, unpack, require, load*, etc.).
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API:
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+ chunks are loaded by using lua_load; new luaL_loadfile and luaL_loadbuffer.
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+ introduced lightweight userdata, a simple "void*" without a metatable.
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+ new error handling protocol: the core no longer prints error messages;
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all errors are reported to the caller on the stack.
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+ new lua_atpanic for host cleanup.
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+ new, signal-safe, hook scheme.
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Implementation:
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+ new license: MIT.
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+ new, faster, register-based virtual machine.
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+ support for external multithreading and coroutines.
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+ new and consistent error message format.
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+ the core no longer needs "stdio.h" for anything (except for a single
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use of sprintf to convert numbers to strings).
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+ lua.c now runs the environment variable LUA_INIT, if present. It can
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be "@filename", to run a file, or the chunk itself.
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+ support for user extensions in lua.c.
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sample implementation given for command line editing.
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+ new dynamic loading library, active by default on several platforms.
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+ safe garbage-collector metamethods.
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+ precompiled bytecodes checked for integrity (secure binary dostring).
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+ strings are fully aligned.
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+ position capture in string.find.
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+ read('*l') can read lines with embedded zeros.
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* Changes from version 3.2 to 4.0
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-------------------------------
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Language:
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+ new "break" and "for" statements (both numerical and for tables).
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+ uniform treatment of globals: globals are now stored in a Lua table.
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+ improved error messages.
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+ no more '$debug': full speed *and* full debug information.
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+ new read form: read(N) for next N bytes.
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+ general read patterns now deprecated.
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(still available with -DCOMPAT_READPATTERNS.)
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+ all return values are passed as arguments for the last function
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(old semantics still available with -DLUA_COMPAT_ARGRET)
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+ garbage collection tag methods for tables now deprecated.
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+ there is now only one tag method for order.
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API:
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+ New API: fully re-entrant, simpler, and more efficient.
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+ New debug API.
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Implementation:
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+ faster than ever: cleaner virtual machine and new hashing algorithm.
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+ non-recursive garbage-collector algorithm.
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+ reduced memory usage for programs with many strings.
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+ improved treatment for memory allocation errors.
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+ improved support for 16-bit machines (we hope).
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+ code now compiles unmodified as both ANSI C and C++.
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+ numbers in bases other than 10 are converted using strtoul.
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+ new -f option in Lua to support #! scripts.
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+ luac can now combine text and binaries.
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* Changes from version 3.1 to 3.2
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-------------------------------
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+ redirected all output in Lua's core to _ERRORMESSAGE and _ALERT.
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+ increased limit on the number of constants and globals per function
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(from 2^16 to 2^24).
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+ debugging info (lua_debug and hooks) moved into lua_state and new API
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functions provided to get and set this info.
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+ new debug lib gives full debugging access within Lua.
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+ new table functions "foreachi", "sort", "tinsert", "tremove", "getn".
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+ new io functions "flush", "seek".
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* Changes from version 3.0 to 3.1
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-------------------------------
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+ NEW FEATURE: anonymous functions with closures (via "upvalues").
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+ new syntax:
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- local variables in chunks.
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- better scope control with DO block END.
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- constructors can now be also written: { record-part; list-part }.
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- more general syntax for function calls and lvalues, e.g.:
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f(x).y=1
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o:f(x,y):g(z)
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f"string" is sugar for f("string")
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+ strings may now contain arbitrary binary data (e.g., embedded zeros).
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+ major code re-organization and clean-up; reduced module interdependecies.
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+ no arbitrary limits on the total number of constants and globals.
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+ support for multiple global contexts.
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+ better syntax error messages.
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+ new traversal functions "foreach" and "foreachvar".
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+ the default for numbers is now double.
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changing it to use floats or longs is easy.
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+ complete debug information stored in pre-compiled chunks.
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+ sample interpreter now prompts user when run interactively, and also
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handles control-C interruptions gracefully.
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* Changes from version 2.5 to 3.0
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-------------------------------
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+ NEW CONCEPT: "tag methods".
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Tag methods replace fallbacks as the meta-mechanism for extending the
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semantics of Lua. Whereas fallbacks had a global nature, tag methods
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work on objects having the same tag (e.g., groups of tables).
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Existing code that uses fallbacks should work without change.
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+ new, general syntax for constructors {[exp] = exp, ... }.
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+ support for handling variable number of arguments in functions (varargs).
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+ support for conditional compilation ($if ... $else ... $end).
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+ cleaner semantics in API simplifies host code.
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+ better support for writing libraries (auxlib.h).
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+ better type checking and error messages in the standard library.
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+ luac can now also undump.
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* Changes from version 2.4 to 2.5
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-------------------------------
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+ io and string libraries are now based on pattern matching;
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the old libraries are still available for compatibility
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+ dofile and dostring can now return values (via return statement)
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+ better support for 16- and 64-bit machines
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+ expanded documentation, with more examples
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* Changes from version 2.2 to 2.4
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-------------------------------
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+ external compiler creates portable binary files that can be loaded faster
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+ interface for debugging and profiling
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+ new "getglobal" fallback
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+ new functions for handling references to Lua objects
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+ new functions in standard lib
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+ only one copy of each string is stored
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+ expanded documentation, with more examples
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* Changes from version 2.1 to 2.2
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-------------------------------
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+ functions now may be declared with any "lvalue" as a name
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+ garbage collection of functions
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+ support for pipes
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* Changes from version 1.1 to 2.1
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-------------------------------
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+ object-oriented support
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+ fallbacks
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+ simplified syntax for tables
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+ many internal improvements
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(end of HISTORY)
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