What’s so great about Lua? Let’s overview the key features

What is Lua programming language?

Despite plenty of benefits, Lua isn’t perfect.

Lua has two components: interpreter and virtual machine. Lua is not directly interpreted through a Lua file like other languages such as Python. Instead, it uses the Lua interpreter to compile the Lua file into bytecode. The Lua interpreter is written in ANSI C, making it highly portable and capable of running on a variety of devices.

The compilation is usually done at runtime. However, sometimes this can be done before execution to increase the load time. The Lua virtual machine will then run this compiled bytecode. The register-based architecture of the Lua virtual machine is very similar to the real hardware architecture, and this will improve the overall performance of the program.

So what’s so great about Lua? Let’s overview the key features.