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Lua is meant for embedding in C programs; that is different from running on embdedded systems. The latter typically features drastically less RAM and CPU cycle
by gamache 17y ago
Lua is meant for embedding in C programs; that is different from running on embdedded systems. The latter typically features drastically less RAM and CPU cycles, so most interpreted languages (which are not shy about trading away some performance) don't cut it. There are some exceptions; FORTH, for instance, can fit in about a kilobyte and its performance isn't miserable. But putting e.g. Lua in a confined space would not work out well.
- silentbicycle 17y agoTo my understanding "embedded systems" spans from something with 1k of memory to something like a cell phone or a router. Working with Lua is quite comfortable on the latter, hence my qualification. It's been ported to Lego Mindstorms (http://www.hempeldesigngroup.com/lego/pbLua/index.html http://www.hempeldesigngroup.com/lego/pbLua/index.html), for example, which is "a 32 bit ARM7 microcontroller with 256K of FLASH and 64K of RAM." It's not clear from the post which end of the spectrum he or she works with. (I don't work with embedded systems professionally, I've just tinkered with OpenWRT, cell phones, etc. as an enthusiastic amateur.) It would be usable in the same niches that SQLite is, for example.