3 * Changes from version 3.0 to 3.1
4 + NEW FEATURE: anonymous functions with closures (via "upvalues").
6 - local variables in chunks.
7 - better scope control with DO block END.
8 - constructors can now be also written: { record-part; list-part }.
9 - more general syntax for function calls and lvalues, e.g.:
12 f"string" is sugar for f("string")
13 + strings may now contain arbitrary binary data (e.g., embedded zeros).
14 + major code re-organization and clean-up; reduced module interdependecies.
15 + no arbitrary limits on the total number of constants and globals.
16 + support for multiple global contexts.
17 + better syntax error messages.
18 + new traversal functions "foreach" and "foreachvar".
19 + the default for numbers is now double.
20 changing it to use floats or longs is easy.
21 + complete debug information stored in pre-compiled chunks.
22 + sample interpreter now prompts user when run interactively, and also
23 handles control-C interruptions gracefully.
25 * Changes from version 2.5 to 3.0
26 + NEW CONCEPT: "tag methods".
27 Tag methods replace fallbacks as the meta-mechanism for extending the
28 semantics of Lua. Whereas fallbacks had a global nature, tag methods
29 work on objects having the same tag (e.g., groups of tables).
30 Existing code that uses fallbacks should work without change.
31 + new, general syntax for constructors {[exp] = exp, ... }.
32 + support for handling variable number of arguments in functions (varargs).
33 + support for conditional compilation ($if ... $else ... $end).
34 + cleaner semantics in API simplifies host code.
35 + better support for writing libraries (auxlib.h).
36 + better type checking and error messages in the standard library.
37 + luac can now also undump.
39 * Changes from version 2.4 to 2.5
40 + io and string libraries are now based on pattern matching;
41 the old libraries are still available for compatibility
42 + dofile and dostring can now return values (via return statement)
43 + better support for 16- and 64-bit machines
44 + expanded documentation, with more examples
46 * Changes from version 2.2 to 2.4
47 + external compiler creates portable binary files that can be loaded faster
48 + interface for debugging and profiling
49 + new "getglobal" fallback
50 + new functions for handling references to Lua objects
51 + new functions in standard lib
52 + only one copy of each string is stored
53 + expanded documentation, with more examples
55 * Changes from version 2.1 to 2.2
56 + functions now may be declared with any "lvalue" as a name
57 + garbage collection of functions
60 * Changes from version 1.1 to 2.1
61 + object-oriented support
63 + simplified syntax for tables
64 + many internal improvements