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1 | HISTORY for Lua 5.1 | |
2 | ||
3 | * Changes from version 5.0 to 5.1 | |
4 | ------------------------------- | |
5 | Language: | |
6 | + new module system. | |
7 | + new semantics for control variables of fors. | |
8 | + new semantics for setn/getn. | |
9 | + new syntax/semantics for varargs. | |
10 | + new long strings and comments. | |
11 | + new `mod' operator (`%') | |
12 | + new length operator #t | |
13 | + metatables for all types | |
14 | API: | |
15 | + new functions: lua_createtable, lua_get(set)field, lua_push(to)integer. | |
16 | + user supplies memory allocator (lua_open becomes lua_newstate). | |
17 | + luaopen_* functions must be called through Lua. | |
18 | Implementation: | |
19 | + new configuration scheme via luaconf.h. | |
20 | + incremental garbage collection. | |
21 | + better handling of end-of-line in the lexer. | |
22 | + fully reentrant parser (new Lua function `load') | |
23 | + better support for 64-bit machines. | |
24 | + native loadlib support for Mac OS X. | |
25 | + standard distribution in only one library (lualib.a merged into lua.a) | |
26 | ||
27 | * Changes from version 4.0 to 5.0 | |
28 | ------------------------------- | |
29 | Language: | |
30 | + lexical scoping. | |
31 | + Lua coroutines. | |
32 | + standard libraries now packaged in tables. | |
33 | + tags replaced by metatables and tag methods replaced by metamethods, | |
34 | stored in metatables. | |
35 | + proper tail calls. | |
36 | + each function can have its own global table, which can be shared. | |
37 | + new __newindex metamethod, called when we insert a new key into a table. | |
38 | + new block comments: --[[ ... ]]. | |
39 | + new generic for. | |
40 | + new weak tables. | |
41 | + new boolean type. | |
42 | + new syntax "local function". | |
43 | + (f()) returns the first value returned by f. | |
44 | + {f()} fills a table with all values returned by f. | |
45 | + \n ignored in [[\n . | |
46 | + fixed and-or priorities. | |
47 | + more general syntax for function definition (e.g. function a.x.y:f()...end). | |
48 | + more general syntax for function calls (e.g. (print or write)(9)). | |
49 | + new functions (time/date, tmpfile, unpack, require, load*, etc.). | |
50 | API: | |
51 | + chunks are loaded by using lua_load; new luaL_loadfile and luaL_loadbuffer. | |
52 | + introduced lightweight userdata, a simple "void*" without a metatable. | |
53 | + new error handling protocol: the core no longer prints error messages; | |
54 | all errors are reported to the caller on the stack. | |
55 | + new lua_atpanic for host cleanup. | |
56 | + new, signal-safe, hook scheme. | |
57 | Implementation: | |
58 | + new license: MIT. | |
59 | + new, faster, register-based virtual machine. | |
60 | + support for external multithreading and coroutines. | |
61 | + new and consistent error message format. | |
62 | + the core no longer needs "stdio.h" for anything (except for a single | |
63 | use of sprintf to convert numbers to strings). | |
64 | + lua.c now runs the environment variable LUA_INIT, if present. It can | |
65 | be "@filename", to run a file, or the chunk itself. | |
66 | + support for user extensions in lua.c. | |
67 | sample implementation given for command line editing. | |
68 | + new dynamic loading library, active by default on several platforms. | |
69 | + safe garbage-collector metamethods. | |
70 | + precompiled bytecodes checked for integrity (secure binary dostring). | |
71 | + strings are fully aligned. | |
72 | + position capture in string.find. | |
73 | + read('*l') can read lines with embedded zeros. | |
74 | ||
75 | * Changes from version 3.2 to 4.0 | |
76 | ------------------------------- | |
77 | Language: | |
78 | + new "break" and "for" statements (both numerical and for tables). | |
79 | + uniform treatment of globals: globals are now stored in a Lua table. | |
80 | + improved error messages. | |
81 | + no more '$debug': full speed *and* full debug information. | |
82 | + new read form: read(N) for next N bytes. | |
83 | + general read patterns now deprecated. | |
84 | (still available with -DCOMPAT_READPATTERNS.) | |
85 | + all return values are passed as arguments for the last function | |
86 | (old semantics still available with -DLUA_COMPAT_ARGRET) | |
87 | + garbage collection tag methods for tables now deprecated. | |
88 | + there is now only one tag method for order. | |
89 | API: | |
90 | + New API: fully re-entrant, simpler, and more efficient. | |
91 | + New debug API. | |
92 | Implementation: | |
93 | + faster than ever: cleaner virtual machine and new hashing algorithm. | |
94 | + non-recursive garbage-collector algorithm. | |
95 | + reduced memory usage for programs with many strings. | |
96 | + improved treatment for memory allocation errors. | |
97 | + improved support for 16-bit machines (we hope). | |
98 | + code now compiles unmodified as both ANSI C and C++. | |
99 | + numbers in bases other than 10 are converted using strtoul. | |
100 | + new -f option in Lua to support #! scripts. | |
101 | + luac can now combine text and binaries. | |
102 | ||
103 | * Changes from version 3.1 to 3.2 | |
104 | ------------------------------- | |
105 | + redirected all output in Lua's core to _ERRORMESSAGE and _ALERT. | |
106 | + increased limit on the number of constants and globals per function | |
107 | (from 2^16 to 2^24). | |
108 | + debugging info (lua_debug and hooks) moved into lua_state and new API | |
109 | functions provided to get and set this info. | |
110 | + new debug lib gives full debugging access within Lua. | |
111 | + new table functions "foreachi", "sort", "tinsert", "tremove", "getn". | |
112 | + new io functions "flush", "seek". | |
113 | ||
114 | * Changes from version 3.0 to 3.1 | |
115 | ------------------------------- | |
116 | + NEW FEATURE: anonymous functions with closures (via "upvalues"). | |
117 | + new syntax: | |
118 | - local variables in chunks. | |
119 | - better scope control with DO block END. | |
120 | - constructors can now be also written: { record-part; list-part }. | |
121 | - more general syntax for function calls and lvalues, e.g.: | |
122 | f(x).y=1 | |
123 | o:f(x,y):g(z) | |
124 | f"string" is sugar for f("string") | |
125 | + strings may now contain arbitrary binary data (e.g., embedded zeros). | |
126 | + major code re-organization and clean-up; reduced module interdependecies. | |
127 | + no arbitrary limits on the total number of constants and globals. | |
128 | + support for multiple global contexts. | |
129 | + better syntax error messages. | |
130 | + new traversal functions "foreach" and "foreachvar". | |
131 | + the default for numbers is now double. | |
132 | changing it to use floats or longs is easy. | |
133 | + complete debug information stored in pre-compiled chunks. | |
134 | + sample interpreter now prompts user when run interactively, and also | |
135 | handles control-C interruptions gracefully. | |
136 | ||
137 | * Changes from version 2.5 to 3.0 | |
138 | ------------------------------- | |
139 | + NEW CONCEPT: "tag methods". | |
140 | Tag methods replace fallbacks as the meta-mechanism for extending the | |
141 | semantics of Lua. Whereas fallbacks had a global nature, tag methods | |
142 | work on objects having the same tag (e.g., groups of tables). | |
143 | Existing code that uses fallbacks should work without change. | |
144 | + new, general syntax for constructors {[exp] = exp, ... }. | |
145 | + support for handling variable number of arguments in functions (varargs). | |
146 | + support for conditional compilation ($if ... $else ... $end). | |
147 | + cleaner semantics in API simplifies host code. | |
148 | + better support for writing libraries (auxlib.h). | |
149 | + better type checking and error messages in the standard library. | |
150 | + luac can now also undump. | |
151 | ||
152 | * Changes from version 2.4 to 2.5 | |
153 | ------------------------------- | |
154 | + io and string libraries are now based on pattern matching; | |
155 | the old libraries are still available for compatibility | |
156 | + dofile and dostring can now return values (via return statement) | |
157 | + better support for 16- and 64-bit machines | |
158 | + expanded documentation, with more examples | |
159 | ||
160 | * Changes from version 2.2 to 2.4 | |
161 | ------------------------------- | |
162 | + external compiler creates portable binary files that can be loaded faster | |
163 | + interface for debugging and profiling | |
164 | + new "getglobal" fallback | |
165 | + new functions for handling references to Lua objects | |
166 | + new functions in standard lib | |
167 | + only one copy of each string is stored | |
168 | + expanded documentation, with more examples | |
169 | ||
170 | * Changes from version 2.1 to 2.2 | |
171 | ------------------------------- | |
172 | + functions now may be declared with any "lvalue" as a name | |
173 | + garbage collection of functions | |
174 | + support for pipes | |
175 | ||
176 | * Changes from version 1.1 to 2.1 | |
177 | ------------------------------- | |
178 | + object-oriented support | |
179 | + fallbacks | |
180 | + simplified syntax for tables | |
181 | + many internal improvements | |
182 | ||
183 | (end of HISTORY) |