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Programming in Lua, Second Edition 2nd ed. Edition

by Roberto Ierusalimschy (Author)

4.5 71 ratings

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Lua is the language of choice for anyone who needs a scripting language that is simple, efficient, extensible, portable, and free. Currently, Lua is being used in areas ranging from embedded systems to Web development and is widely spread in the game industry, where knowledge of Lua is an indisputable asset. "Programming in Lua" is the official book about the language, giving a solid base for any programmer who wants to use Lua. Authored by Roberto Ierusalimschy, the chief architect of the language, it covers all aspects of Lua 5---from the basics to its API with C---explaining how to make good use of its features and giving numerous code examples. "Programming in Lua" is targeted at people with some programming background, but does not assume any prior knowledge about Lua or other scripting languages. This Second Edition updates the text to Lua 5.1 and brings substantial new material, including numerous new examples, a detailed explanation of the new module system, and two new chapters centered on multiple states and garbage collection.

Review

"the book presents so many good ideas, and presents them so artfully, that it's worth reading." -- UnixReview.com, May 2004

About the Author

Roberto Ierusalimschy is an Associate Professor at the Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro. He is the leading architect of Lua.

ISBN-10

8590379825
ISBN-13

978-8590379829
Edition

2nd ed.
Publisher

Lua.Org
Publication date

March 5, 2006
Language

English
Dimensions

7.28 x 0.73 x 9.87 inches
Print length

328 pages
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lua.Org; 2nd ed. edition (March 5, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 8590379825
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-8590379829
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.28 x 0.73 x 9.87 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #753,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #913 in Software Development (Books)
- #2,356 in Programming Languages (Books)
- #2,465 in Computer Software (Books)

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4.5 71 ratings

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Roberto Ierusalimschy

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Roberto Ierusalimschy is the leading architect of the Lua programming language, driving its development since its inception in 1993. He is a full professor of Computer Science at PUC-Rio (the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro), where he works with programming-language design and implementation.

Roberto has a M.Sc. Degree and a D.Sc. Degree in Computer Science, both from PUC-Rio. He was a visiting researcher at the University of Waterloo, ICSI, GMD, and UIUC, and a Tinker Professor at Stanford. As a professor at PUC-Rio, Roberto was the advisor of several students that later became influential members of the Lua community. Roberto is also a member of the IFIP Working Group on Language Design.

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Mike Owens

An Elegant Book for an Elegant Language

Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2006

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I am new to Lua. While a C++ developer, having used Perl, Python and Ruby, I was suprised by how much you can do with this compact scripting language.

The second edition is as eloquently written as the first (which is available online), but with new material and even more examples. In little time it introduced me to all aspects of the latest version of Lua -- 5.1 -- which includes a number of new features such as the new package system. Being a newcomer, it was nice to have a recent book covering all aspects of this latest version.

The book is well organized. It works as both a primer and complete course on the langauge. It covers the basic tenets and first principles, as well as the subtleties. It is written in the spirit of Lua: accomplishing much in minimal space. It does so through crisp, engaging writing and thorough, well-crafted examples. It is one of those books that feels timeless -- so well done that you mark your name on it with a Sharpie.

Lua is both a language and developer's tool. Part IV of the book, devoted to the C API, is as thorough for developers as the preceding parts are for language users. As I am using Lua in a multi-threaded environment, the second edition had the perfect example covering everything I needed to know -- from managing multiple states (interpreters) to wrapping C/C++ data structures.

I was so pleased with the book, I emailed the author. If you use Lua, and especially if you are new to Lua, you won't be disappointed with this edition.

17 people found this helpful

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Brandon Wall

Knowledge is power

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2011

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So i got an email to write a review for this book, this is the first review I've ever written for Amazon so here it goes.

I am currently on chapter 5 of this book which goes into functions in detail. So far I've loved the book, it has given me a lot of information that I've been searching for. I also have the reference manual for version 5.1 of Lua in book format and using the two books together is indispensable. You can find the reference manual for free at lua.org. I jumped at the chance to buy the reference manual because Lua is an open source project, I prefer books over computer screens, and the guys that have worked tirelessly developing this language deserve a little help to keep it going.

I am a beginning programmer, I have done a little bit of C++ programming but that was years ago at the age of 14, I'm 19 now, almost 20. I work in the field of I.T. and currently do web design and page maintenance for California Pacific Medical Center. This book is easy to read, I don't mind the typesetting I think it's fine. It's teaching me everything I want to know. I'm finally starting to write scripts that are actually useful and when I read books on programming I like to buy a new mini-notebook and take copious amounts of notes so that I end up creating my own reference manual in my own words. This book has been enjoyable to read and take notes on, I'm learning a lot, I hope that eventually I'll be starting some interesting projects and writing World of Warcraft add-ons.

2 people found this helpful

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Evan Sims

Great introduction to Lua

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2008

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Lua isn't a complicated language, honestly. If you're coming at it from another language, especially ones with simpler syntaxes like PHP or VB, you'll feel right at home. In fact, it's so simple you could easily pick up most of the language's workings just by looking at other people's code, and building your own from there. That said, not everyone likes to learn that way. Some people, myself included, like to have a reference book that they can pick up at a whim, skim to the topic that they're struggling with and find a solution. That's what this book excels at: reference, and teaching by example. It's a great buy for anyone looking to get into Lua scripting, and a nice reference guide for those already fluent in other languages.

6 people found this helpful

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Shawn Milochik

Comprehensive and well-thought-out.

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2010

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This book is an unbeatable introduction to the Lua programming language, as might be expected considering it's written by the language's creator. However, the book is also an excellent guide to programming in general, because Roberto explains concepts which are applicable in most other languages. Maybe this is because Lua was designed primarily as a 'glue' or 'embedded' language. The author's ability to explain complex ideas is outstanding. You may have to re-read a paragraph a couple of times to fully 'get' it, but once you do everything just clicks.

Also, don't expect this book to be limited to an introduction to the language. That introduction is pretty solidly handled in the first 60 pages or so. For your money, you also get information on integrating your Lua code with your C code, techniques for coroutines and multi-threading, and advanced uses of the Lua table object (including object-oriented programming).

But wait -- there's more! There's a run-through of Lua's standard libraries which is not your standard printout of the online documents -- it's full of useful, progressive examples. I found the string library documentation particularly useful. Just by reading the table of contents you'll see that this is a very well-thought-out book, and I can vouch for its execution being excellent as well.

6 people found this helpful

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T. Jensen

All C programmers should have this book

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2007

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Buying this book does more than support the Lua project. Having the book available will change your opinion of integrating script with C code! "Progamming in Lua" is a well-written text that makes using Lua practical. All of the best features of Lua are covered; the sample code is concise, clear and complete.

Lua is very different from C, and so allows a programmer to easily do things that are difficult in C. That makes it a perfect companion language. The only obstacle is training a C programmer to use it! That's where the book becomes useful. It's a quick read and covers all the essentials.

Even better, Lua is so well-connected to C that it is easy to switch back and forth in the course of a typical programming day, writing performance code in C and high-level logic in Lua. It is even possible to easily interact with Lua data structures in C without writing Lua code for situations where the data structures are desirable but Lua code isn't required. If you're looking for a scripting language for your next project, you need to know about Lua, and this book is the quickest way to make an informed decision.

12 people found this helpful

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Lukas

Programming in Lua

Reviewed in Germany on January 1, 2013

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Ein Buch für erfahrene Programmierer welche Lua lernen wollen. Keine großen Erklärungen fundamentaler Programmstrukturen wie z.B. Schleifen oder Bedingungen, für Programmieranfänger also nicht geeignet. Weiter wird sehr ausführlich auf die Besonderheiten von Lua eingegangen wobei man stets merkt dass der Author sich in Lua auskennt (er ist Lua Author). Auch die Standardlibrary und das C/Lua Interface wird behandelt.
Meiner Meinung nach alternativlos ein gelungener Einstieg in Lua.

Die erste Version des Buchen (für Lua 5.0) ist kostenlos auf der Lua Homepage erhältlich.

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jseb

Plus qu'un livre pour apprendre un langage.

Reviewed in France on August 1, 2011

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Pour les gens prêssés, voici un résumé de mon commentaire: «achetez ce livre!».
Pour les autres, voici le développement.

J'ai programmé pendant des années en C, puis en C++.
J'ai fini par éprouver la nécéssité d'y adjoindre un langage de script, afin de cesser de perdre du temps à faire du «bas niveau» lorsque celà n'était pas nécessaire.

Je me suis tout d'abord tourné vers Python. Il ne m'a pas convaincu pour diverses raisons, et notamment le fait que je n'ai jamais trouvé d'ouvrage de référence de taille raisonnable (ce qui est plutôt inquiétant pour un langage qui se veut simple).

J'ai découvert Lua un peu par hasard, et j'ai décidé d'acheter l'ouvrage de référence sur le sujet: ce livre. Vu la faible quantité de littérature sur le sujet, on ne perd pas de temps à chercher.

Première bonne surprise: le livre n'est pas épais. Il a le gabarit du fameux K&R. (cette unité de mesure correspond à environ 300 pages).

Seconde bonne surprise, la typographie est très agréable. Le livre a été écrit à l'aide de LaTeX et ça se voit.
On remarque également une trouvaille dans l'index: le numéro de page où un terme est défini pour la première fois est souligné. Ça n'a l'air de rien comme ça, mais c'est très pratique.

Mais arrêtons là les critiques sur la forme, et penchons nous sur le fond.

Première page: le «hello world» obligatoire, immédiatement suivi du calcul d'une factorielle. En une demi page, on ne peut pas dire que ça traine.

Ensuite, les explications s'enchainent.
Elles sont très claires, et le lecteur se sent guidé par un vrai professeur.
L'auteur réussit à faire participer mentalement le lecteur, amené à se poser des questions, et recevant les réponses correspondantes au même rythme.

C'est un livre exigeant. Il faut le lire doucement, presque le savourer. Il n'y a pas de texte inutile, et il convient de tout lire attentivement.
Les exemples sont de vrais exemples, et tout en restant très concis, apportent un réel plus aux explications en illustrant des cas fréquemment rencontrés.

Les choix du langage sont explicités par l'auteur, sans concession et clairement.

Le plan du livre est classique.
Dans une première partie, présentation du langage, de ses types, de sa grammaire.
La seconde partie concerne les «tables», élément important de Lua.
Ensuite, la bibliothèque standard (très minimaliste) est abordée.
La dernière partie concerne l'interfaçage avec le C, principal intêret du langage (que l'on peut bien sûr utiliser comme un langage de script indépendant, mais pour un codeur en C, celà serait vraiment du gachis).

Des notions compliquées (closures, multitache, metatables (surcharge en Lua) et OO) sont abordées de façon naturelle.
L'intêret de ces notions s'impose au lecteur au fil de sa lecture, avec simplicité. Ceci sans jamais tomber dans le monologue lénifiant, principal écueil de bien des ouvrages dits «de référence», en réalité surtout utiles pour guérir de l'insomnie.

Même si vous n'avez qu'un intêret limité pour Lua, vous devriez lire ce livre, qui est un véritable cours de programmation et de bonnes pratiques.
Le tout dans un style clair, qui n'abandonne jamais le lecteur en chemin, et lui donne envie d'en savoir plus.
Le livre se suffit à lui-même pour profiter du langage, mais il fait naître un intêret pour toutes les nouvelles notions abordées.

À coup sûr, un ouvrage indispensable. Il a changé ma vision de la programmation, et m'a permis de découvrir un fabuleux langage.
«Programming in Lua» illustre à merveille l'adage suivant: «la perfection est atteinte, non pas lorsqu'il reste quelque chose à ajouter, mais lorsqu'il ne reste plus rien à enlever».

Lua est un langage minimaliste, presque ascétique. Mais il n'a rien de simpliste.
Ce livre est son compagnon de route.
Achetez-le.

(pour les sceptiques, une version un peu plus ancienne, mais tout à fait utilisable, est disponible sur le site web de Lua)

5 people found this helpful

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pete3894792

Very clearly written guide to Lua 5.1

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2007

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A very clearly written and concise book, which is something of a rarity in these days of monster tomes full of words and little information! I'm using Lua to extend a number of applications, and am using this book to help me figure-out how to do it. Highly recommended.

5 people found this helpful

T氏の父

唯一の解説本でしょう

Reviewed in Japan on January 28, 2007

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プログラミング言語Luaはまだあまり世間には知られていないためあまり入門書が無い状況です。

ほんとは日本語で読みたいのですが、本家本元が出しているこの本なら間違いなかろうと買ってみました。

わかりやすい解説だと思います。英語はちょっと苦手なので苦労していますが。

言語自体は、そのソースがコンパクトさに比べて、関数の名前をすげ替えるのがさっくり出来たり、

拡張やテストといったことがいろいろとできそうな気がしています。私の仕事の組み込み分野でもちょっと

テストやデバッグに使えたらいいなと思っています。

これから発展する（してほしい）言語だと思いました。

2 people found this helpful

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Frank Graetz

This was alright if you have previous experience.

Reviewed in Canada on January 19, 2013

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I bought this thinking i could learn lua without any previous experience. i have terribly mistaken, it was difficult to understand, confusing at times but overall this *just* makes it to the recommend line. if you have no experience with lua, do not buy this.

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