Programming Language Atlas

A structured reference to language families, paradigms, and implementations

Lua

Imperative, prototype-based. First appeared 1993; dynamic scripting; embedded scripting, games.

Record

First appeared1993
FamilyDynamic scripting
Paradigm emphasisImperative, prototype-based
TypingDynamic, weak
MemoryIncremental tracing GC
ExecutionBytecode VM
Primary domainEmbedded scripting, games
DesignersPUC-Rio
Referencehttps://www.lua.org/manual/
Last verifiednot yet checked against its source by a human

Dates are first public release or publication, not the start of internal development. Colour on the typing and memory tags encodes kind, never rank.

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Influence

Scheme1975No indexed descendantLua1993
Figure 1. Lua in the influence graph: recorded ancestors on the left, languages that record it as an influence on the right. Every node links to its own record. Edges name indexed languages only, so an empty side means no indexed relative, not none at all. Source: languages.json.

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Within the Dynamic scripting

Late binding and rapid iteration, usually paired with a large package ecosystem and an interpreter or JIT.

Language First appeared Typing Memory Execution
BASIC 1964 Dynamic, weak Interpreter-managed Interpreted
Smalltalk-80 1980 Dynamic, strong Tracing GC Bytecode VM
Perl 1987 Dynamic, weak Reference counting Interpreted
Self 1987 Dynamic, strong Generational tracing GC JIT
Python 1991 Dynamic, strong Refcount with cycle collector Interpreted
JavaScript 1995 Dynamic, weak Tracing GC JIT
PHP 1995 Dynamic, weak Refcount with cycle collector Bytecode VM
Ruby 1995 Dynamic, strong Tracing GC Bytecode VM
TypeScript 2012 Static, erased at runtime Tracing GC (host) Transpiled to JavaScript

9 other languages in this family, ordered by first appearance. Lua itself is omitted. Source: languages.json.

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