Lua is a new, free scripting language that is gaining popularity with application and game developers.

Lua was developed at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and has been under the care of the Computer Graphics Technology Group (tecgraf) at the university.

Lua is a simple language to learn and write code in, but is still very effecient and fast. This is a rare combination found in a programming language. Lua integrates weel with C, C++ and Java. So it is very convenient for developers to use Lua to extend the features of their existing programs.

Similar to Java, the Lua code is interpreted when needed, rather than compiled like a C or C++ program. Much like java, the code is translated into bye-code and runs on it's own virtual machine.

Lua provides automatic memory management, thus it takes the load off programmers' minds, so they can focus more on important features. Lua can be used to create flexible applications, since it is also capable of modyfing itself.

Is Lua a new language? no, not at all. Lua was developed way back in 1993, and has been undergoing major improvements since. But I wonder why this language is not so popular.

An integral part of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom was written in Lua. It is also used for developing games. In the game "World of Warcraft" the Lua is used to allow users to customize the interface. The AI for the game "Company of Heroes" was written in Lua.

I'm very much interested in this language and I'm planning to learn Lua. If any one of you already know about this language, please let us know more about Lua.