[redis.git] / deps / lua / doc / luac.1

.\" $Id: luac.man,v 1.28 2006/01/06 16:03:34 lhf Exp $
.TH LUAC 1 "$Date: 2006/01/06 16:03:34 $"
.SH NAME
luac \- Lua compiler
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B luac
[
.I options
] [
.I filenames
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B luac
is the Lua compiler.
It translates programs written in the Lua programming language
into binary files that can be later loaded and executed.
.LP
The main advantages of precompiling chunks are:
faster loading,
protecting source code from accidental user changes,
and
off-line syntax checking.
.LP
Pre-compiling does not imply faster execution
because in Lua chunks are always compiled into bytecodes before being executed.
.B luac
simply allows those bytecodes to be saved in a file for later execution.
.LP
Pre-compiled chunks are not necessarily smaller than the corresponding source.
The main goal in pre-compiling is faster loading.
.LP
The binary files created by
.B luac
are portable only among architectures with the same word size and byte order.
.LP
.B luac
produces a single output file containing the bytecodes
for all source files given.
By default,
the output file is named
.BR luac.out ,
but you can change this with the
.B \-o
option.
.LP
In the command line,
you can mix
text files containing Lua source and
binary files containing precompiled chunks.
This is useful to combine several precompiled chunks,
even from different (but compatible) platforms,
into a single precompiled chunk.
.LP
You can use
.B "'\-'"
to indicate the standard input as a source file
and
.B "'\--'"
to signal the end of options
(that is,
all remaining arguments will be treated as files even if they start with
.BR "'\-'" ).
.LP
The internal format of the binary files produced by
.B luac
is likely to change when a new version of Lua is released.
So,
save the source files of all Lua programs that you precompile.
.LP
.SH OPTIONS
Options must be separate.
.TP
.B \-l
produce a listing of the compiled bytecode for Lua's virtual machine.
Listing bytecodes is useful to learn about Lua's virtual machine.
If no files are given, then
.B luac
loads
.B luac.out
and lists its contents.
.TP
.BI \-o " file"
output to
.IR file ,
instead of the default
.BR luac.out .
(You can use
.B "'\-'"
for standard output,
but not on platforms that open standard output in text mode.)
The output file may be a source file because
all files are loaded before the output file is written.
Be careful not to overwrite precious files.
.TP
.B \-p
load files but do not generate any output file.
Used mainly for syntax checking and for testing precompiled chunks:
corrupted files will probably generate errors when loaded.
Lua always performs a thorough integrity test on precompiled chunks.
Bytecode that passes this test is completely safe,
in the sense that it will not break the interpreter.
However,
there is no guarantee that such code does anything sensible.
(None can be given, because the halting problem is unsolvable.)
If no files are given, then
.B luac
loads
.B luac.out
and tests its contents.
No messages are displayed if the file passes the integrity test.
.TP
.B \-s
strip debug information before writing the output file.
This saves some space in very large chunks,
but if errors occur when running a stripped chunk,
then the error messages may not contain the full information they usually do.
For instance,
line numbers and names of local variables are lost.
.TP
.B \-v
show version information.
.SH FILES
.TP 15
.B luac.out
default output file
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR lua (1)
.br
http://www.lua.org/
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
Error messages should be self explanatory.
.SH AUTHORS
L. H. de Figueiredo,
R. Ierusalimschy and
W. Celes
.\" EOF
Commit	Line	Data
21d3294c	1	.\" $Id: luac.man,v 1.28 2006/01/06 16:03:34 lhf Exp $
	2	.TH LUAC 1 "$Date: 2006/01/06 16:03:34 $"
	3	.SH NAME
	4	luac \- Lua compiler
	5	.SH SYNOPSIS
	6	.B luac
	7	[
	8	.I options
	9	] [
	10	.I filenames
	11	]
	12	.SH DESCRIPTION
	13	.B luac
	14	is the Lua compiler.
	15	It translates programs written in the Lua programming language
	16	into binary files that can be later loaded and executed.
	17	.LP
	18	The main advantages of precompiling chunks are:
	19	faster loading,
	20	protecting source code from accidental user changes,
	21	and
	22	off-line syntax checking.
	23	.LP
	24	Pre-compiling does not imply faster execution
	25	because in Lua chunks are always compiled into bytecodes before being executed.
	26	.B luac
	27	simply allows those bytecodes to be saved in a file for later execution.
	28	.LP
	29	Pre-compiled chunks are not necessarily smaller than the corresponding source.
	30	The main goal in pre-compiling is faster loading.
	31	.LP
	32	The binary files created by
	33	.B luac
	34	are portable only among architectures with the same word size and byte order.
	35	.LP
	36	.B luac
	37	produces a single output file containing the bytecodes
	38	for all source files given.
	39	By default,
	40	the output file is named
	41	.BR luac.out ,
	42	but you can change this with the
	43	.B \-o
	44	option.
	45	.LP
	46	In the command line,
	47	you can mix
	48	text files containing Lua source and
	49	binary files containing precompiled chunks.
	50	This is useful to combine several precompiled chunks,
	51	even from different (but compatible) platforms,
	52	into a single precompiled chunk.
	53	.LP
	54	You can use
	55	.B "'\-'"
	56	to indicate the standard input as a source file
	57	and
	58	.B "'\--'"
	59	to signal the end of options
	60	(that is,
	61	all remaining arguments will be treated as files even if they start with
	62	.BR "'\-'" ).
	63	.LP
	64	The internal format of the binary files produced by
65	.B luac
66	is likely to change when a new version of Lua is released.
67	So,
68	save the source files of all Lua programs that you precompile.
69	.LP
70	.SH OPTIONS
71	Options must be separate.
72	.TP
73	.B \-l
74	produce a listing of the compiled bytecode for Lua's virtual machine.
75	Listing bytecodes is useful to learn about Lua's virtual machine.
76	If no files are given, then
77	.B luac
78	loads
79	.B luac.out
80	and lists its contents.
81	.TP
82	.BI \-o " file"
83	output to
84	.IR file ,
85	instead of the default
86	.BR luac.out .
87	(You can use
88	.B "'\-'"
89	for standard output,
90	but not on platforms that open standard output in text mode.)
91	The output file may be a source file because
92	all files are loaded before the output file is written.
93	Be careful not to overwrite precious files.
94	.TP
95	.B \-p
96	load files but do not generate any output file.
97	Used mainly for syntax checking and for testing precompiled chunks:
98	corrupted files will probably generate errors when loaded.
99	Lua always performs a thorough integrity test on precompiled chunks.
100	Bytecode that passes this test is completely safe,
101	in the sense that it will not break the interpreter.
102	However,
103	there is no guarantee that such code does anything sensible.
104	(None can be given, because the halting problem is unsolvable.)
105	If no files are given, then
106	.B luac
107	loads
108	.B luac.out
109	and tests its contents.
110	No messages are displayed if the file passes the integrity test.
111	.TP
112	.B \-s
113	strip debug information before writing the output file.
114	This saves some space in very large chunks,
115	but if errors occur when running a stripped chunk,
116	then the error messages may not contain the full information they usually do.
117	For instance,
118	line numbers and names of local variables are lost.
119	.TP
120	.B \-v
121	show version information.
122	.SH FILES
123	.TP 15
124	.B luac.out
125	default output file
126	.SH "SEE ALSO"
127	.BR lua (1)
128	.br
129	http://www.lua.org/
130	.SH DIAGNOSTICS
131	Error messages should be self explanatory.
132	.SH AUTHORS
133	L. H. de Figueiredo,
134	R. Ierusalimschy and
135	W. Celes
136	.\" EOF