NAME
luac - Lua compiler
SYNOPSIS
luac [
options ] [
filenames ]
DESCRIPTION
luac is the Lua compiler. It translates programs written in the Lua
programming language into binary files containing precompiled chunks that can
be later loaded and executed.
The main advantages of precompiling chunks are: faster loading, protecting
source code from accidental user changes, and off-line syntax checking.
Precompiling does not imply faster execution because in Lua chunks are always
compiled into bytecodes before being executed.
luac simply allows those
bytecodes to be saved in a file for later execution. Precompiled chunks are
not necessarily smaller than the corresponding source. The main goal in
precompiling is faster loading.
In the command line, you can mix text files containing Lua source and binary
files containing precompiled chunks.
luac produces a single output file
containing the combined bytecodes for all files given. Executing the combined
file is equivalent to executing the given files. By default, the output file
is named
luac.out, but you can change this with the
-o option.
Precompiled chunks are
not portable across different architectures.
Moreover, the internal format of precompiled chunks is likely to change when a
new version of Lua is released. Make sure you save the source files of all Lua
programs that you precompile.
OPTIONS
- -l
- produce a listing of the compiled bytecode for Lua's
virtual machine. Listing bytecodes is useful to learn about Lua's virtual
machine. If no files are given, then luac loads luac.out and
lists its contents. Use -l -l for a full listing.
- -o file
- output to file, instead of the default
luac.out. (You can use '-' for standard output, but not on
platforms that open standard output in text mode.) The output file may be
one of the given files because all files are loaded before the output file
is written. Be careful not to overwrite precious files.
- -p
- load files but do not generate any output file. Used mainly
for syntax checking and for testing precompiled chunks: corrupted files
will probably generate errors when loaded. If no files are given, then
luac loads luac.out and tests its contents. No messages are
displayed if the file loads without errors.
- -s
- strip debug information before writing the output file.
This saves some space in very large chunks, but if errors occur when
running a stripped chunk, then the error messages may not contain the full
information they usually do. In particular, line numbers and names of
local variables are lost.
- -v
- show version information.
- --
- stop handling options.
- -
- stop handling options and process standard input.
SEE ALSO
lua(1)
The documentation at lua.org.
DIAGNOSTICS
Error messages should be self explanatory.
AUTHORS
R. Ierusalimschy, L. H. de Figueiredo, W. Celes