Lua vs Smalltalk

Overview

Lua

Stacks2.5K

Followers1.0K

Votes180

GitHub Stars1.5K

Forks452

Smalltalk

Stacks554

Followers42

Votes0

Lua vs Smalltalk: What are the differences?

Introduction

Lua and Smalltalk are both programming languages that have unique features and use cases. In this section, we will explore the key differences between Lua and Smalltalk.

Syntax: Lua has a simple and lightweight syntax, making it easy to learn and understand for beginners. It uses a combination of procedural and object-oriented programming paradigms. On the other hand, Smalltalk has a uniform syntax that treats everything as an object. It follows a pure object-oriented programming paradigm, making it more expressive and flexible.
Memory Management: Lua uses manual memory management, where the programmer needs to explicitly allocate and deallocate memory. It provides mechanisms like garbage collection to help manage memory, but the responsibility lies with the programmer. In contrast, Smalltalk uses automatic garbage collection, freeing programmers from the burden of memory management.
Concurrency: Lua has limited support for concurrency, with cooperative multitasking using coroutines. This means that Lua can handle lightweight concurrency by pausing and resuming code execution. Smalltalk, on the other hand, has built-in support for concurrency with its lightweight processes (also known as green threads) and synchronization primitives.
Metaprogramming: Lua provides powerful metaprogramming features through its metatables and metaprogramming hooks. Programmers can modify the behavior of objects and add new methods dynamically. Smalltalk, being a pure object-oriented language, embraces metaprogramming as a fundamental aspect. It supports reflective features like introspection, message manipulation, and code generation, allowing for highly dynamic programming.
Class Hierarchy: Lua does not provide built-in class-based inheritance, rather it follows a prototype-based model. In Lua, objects can be cloned and customized as prototypes, forming a hierarchy of objects. Smalltalk, on the other hand, emphasizes class-based inheritance. It uses a strict class hierarchy where subclasses inherit behavior from their parent classes.
Tooling and IDE Support: Lua has limited tooling and IDE support compared to Smalltalk. Although there are some integrated development environments (IDEs) available for Lua, they are not as feature-rich as what Smalltalk has to offer. Smalltalk provides a highly interactive and productivity-focused environment with powerful IDEs like Squeak/Pharo, which offer features such as live coding, debugging, and code analysis.

In summary, Lua and Smalltalk differ in terms of syntax, memory management, concurrency support, metaprogramming capabilities, class hierarchy, and tooling/IDE support. These differences make each language suitable for different use cases and programming styles.

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Advice on Lua, Smalltalk

Gamerians

May 21, 2020

Needs adviceon

Lua

Python

Java

I am trying to make Roblox game which requires Lua. I quite don't want to go with Lua just because other tools just might let me do more projects later on. I heard that Python is most similar to Lua, but I am still not sure which tool to use. Java, I think it will help me with many stuff later on for websites, projects, and more!

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Detailed Comparison

Lua	Smalltalk
Lua combines simple procedural syntax with powerful data description constructs based on associative arrays and extensible semantics. Lua is dynamically typed, runs by interpreting bytecode for a register-based virtual machine, and has automatic memory management with incremental garbage collection, making it ideal for configuration, scripting, and rapid prototyping.	It is an object-oriented, dynamically typed reflective programming language. It was created as the language underpinning the "new world" of computing exemplified by "human–computer symbiosis". It was designed and created in part for educational use, specifically for constructionist learning.
-	Object-oriented; Dynamically typed; Reflective programming language
Statistics
GitHub Stars 1.5K	GitHub Stars -
GitHub Forks 452	GitHub Forks -
Stacks 2.5K	Stacks 554
Followers 1.0K	Followers 42
Votes 180	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 41 Fast learning curve 26 Very easy to embed in C programs 26 Efficient memory usage 20 Open source 19 Good for game scripting Cons 4 Nooby 2 Not widespread 1 D 0 Python	No community feedback yet
Integrations
No integrations available	Linux macOS Windows

What are some alternatives to Lua, Smalltalk?

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

Related Comparisons

Lua vs Smalltalk: What are the differences?

Introduction

Lua and Smalltalk are both programming languages that have unique features and use cases. In this section, we will explore the key differences between Lua and Smalltalk.

Syntax: Lua has a simple and lightweight syntax, making it easy to learn and understand for beginners. It uses a combination of procedural and object-oriented programming paradigms. On the other hand, Smalltalk has a uniform syntax that treats everything as an object. It follows a pure object-oriented programming paradigm, making it more expressive and flexible.
Memory Management: Lua uses manual memory management, where the programmer needs to explicitly allocate and deallocate memory. It provides mechanisms like garbage collection to help manage memory, but the responsibility lies with the programmer. In contrast, Smalltalk uses automatic garbage collection, freeing programmers from the burden of memory management.
Concurrency: Lua has limited support for concurrency, with cooperative multitasking using coroutines. This means that Lua can handle lightweight concurrency by pausing and resuming code execution. Smalltalk, on the other hand, has built-in support for concurrency with its lightweight processes (also known as green threads) and synchronization primitives.
Metaprogramming: Lua provides powerful metaprogramming features through its metatables and metaprogramming hooks. Programmers can modify the behavior of objects and add new methods dynamically. Smalltalk, being a pure object-oriented language, embraces metaprogramming as a fundamental aspect. It supports reflective features like introspection, message manipulation, and code generation, allowing for highly dynamic programming.
Class Hierarchy: Lua does not provide built-in class-based inheritance, rather it follows a prototype-based model. In Lua, objects can be cloned and customized as prototypes, forming a hierarchy of objects. Smalltalk, on the other hand, emphasizes class-based inheritance. It uses a strict class hierarchy where subclasses inherit behavior from their parent classes.
Tooling and IDE Support: Lua has limited tooling and IDE support compared to Smalltalk. Although there are some integrated development environments (IDEs) available for Lua, they are not as feature-rich as what Smalltalk has to offer. Smalltalk provides a highly interactive and productivity-focused environment with powerful IDEs like Squeak/Pharo, which offer features such as live coding, debugging, and code analysis.

Lua vs Smalltalk

Overview

Lua vs Smalltalk: What are the differences?