Starting Lua, what to use?

Question

I'm trying to learn Lua, but I don't really know which binary to download. There's 2 choices:

• Lua Binaries
• Lua for Windows

The second option Lua for Windows seems to be the recommended option, but the installer weighs in at 26.6Mb, which is pretty hefty for what is supposed to be a v.lightweight language.

I'm thinking of using Lua as a scripting language for games, and perhaps as a fast development language for file processing like how Python or Ruby does it. So it must be something lightweight, not a 26.6Mb file.

Which is the appropriate one to download and start?

Answer 1

You may also want to check ZeroBrane Studio, which is only 4M download on Windows and is based on the same editor as SciTE that comes with Lua for Windows. ZBS also comes with 50+ Lua examples and few simple lessons to get started quickly with Lua programming.

Answer 2

Quoting from here.

Installation

The LuaBinaries files are intended for advanced users and programmers who want to incorporate Lua in their applications or distributions and would like to keep compatibility with LuaBinaries, so they also will be compatible with many other modules available on the Internet.

If what you want is a full Lua installation, please check other projects such as the Lua for Windows and LuaRocks.

Seems quite clear to me that you should download Lua for Windows.

Answer 3

Lua for Windows includes a handful of other, useful libraries and tools. The actual Lua executable included is still tiny, in the 1-2MB range as expected.

Having the extras there already will only make things easier, and disk space is cheap: go with Lua for Windows.

Answer 4

Luaforwindows, no doubt. It's simpler, easier and faster.

The installer comes with lots of stuff (Scite editor & several extra libs if I remember well). But the installer asks you before installing all those extra stuff. Just install the minimum and you will be fine.