Beyond Linux® From Scratch (systemd Edition) - Version r12.0-816

Chapter 13. Programming

Lua-5.4.6

Introduction to Lua

Lua is a powerful light-weight programming language designed for extending applications. It is also frequently used as a general-purpose, stand-alone language. Lua is implemented as a small library of C functions, written in ANSI C, and compiles unmodified in all known platforms. The implementation goals are simplicity, efficiency, portability, and low embedding cost. The result is a fast language engine with small footprint, making it ideal in embedded systems too.

[Note]

Note

Development versions of BLFS may not build or run some packages properly if LFS or dependencies have been updated since the most recent stable versions of the books.

Package Information

  • Download (HTTP): https://www.lua.org/ftp/lua-5.4.6.tar.gz

  • Download MD5 sum: 25a429319dff20dfbfb9956c2b5be911

  • Download size: 356 KB

  • Estimated disk space required: 3.8 MB (with Basic tests)

  • Estimated build time: less than 0.1 SBU (with Basic tests)

Additional Downloads

Installation of Lua

Some packages check for the pkg-config file for Lua, which is created with: 

cat > lua.pc << "EOF"
V=5.4
R=5.4.6

prefix=/usr
INSTALL_BIN=${prefix}/bin
INSTALL_INC=${prefix}/include
INSTALL_LIB=${prefix}/lib
INSTALL_MAN=${prefix}/share/man/man1
INSTALL_LMOD=${prefix}/share/lua/${V}
INSTALL_CMOD=${prefix}/lib/lua/${V}
exec_prefix=${prefix}
libdir=${exec_prefix}/lib
includedir=${prefix}/include

Name: Lua
Description: An Extensible Extension Language
Version: ${R}
Requires:
Libs: -L${libdir} -llua -lm -ldl
Cflags: -I${includedir}
EOF

Install Lua by running the following commands: 

patch -Np1 -i ../lua-5.4.6-shared_library-1.patch &&
make linux

To test the results, issue: make test. “This will run the interpreter and print its version”. More comprehensive tests can be performed if you downloaded the "Test suite" tarball. Those tests need to be executed after the package is installed, thus we defer to the description below.

Now, as the root user: 

make INSTALL_TOP=/usr                \
     INSTALL_DATA="cp -d"            \
     INSTALL_MAN=/usr/share/man/man1 \
     TO_LIB="liblua.so liblua.so.5.4 liblua.so.5.4.6" \
     install &&

mkdir -pv                      /usr/share/doc/lua-5.4.6 &&
cp -v doc/*.{html,css,gif,png} /usr/share/doc/lua-5.4.6 &&

install -v -m644 -D lua.pc /usr/lib/pkgconfig/lua.pc

Here we describe only the "Basic tests". Untar the tarball and change to the lua-5.4.6-tests directory, then issue lua -e "_U=true" all.lua. If the tests finish without error, you will see a message containing the string "final OK".

Contents

Installed Programs: lua and luac
Installed Library: liblua.so
Installed Directories: /usr/{lib,share}/lua and /usr/share/doc/lua-5.4.6

Short Descriptions

lua

is the standalone Lua interpreter

luac

is the Lua compiler

liblua.so

contains the Lua API functions