sieve.lua

-- the sieve of of Eratosthenes programmed with coroutines
-- typical usage: lua -e N=1000 sieve.lua | column

local siev = {
  2,
3,
5,
7,
11,
13,
17,
19,
23,
29,
31,
37,
41,
43,
47,
53,
59,
61,
67,
71,
73,
79,
83,
89,
97,
101,
103,
107,
109,
113,
127,
131,
137,
139,
149,
151,
157,
163,
167,
173,
179,
181,
191,
193,
197,
199,
211,
223,
227,
229,
233,
239,
241,
251,
257,
263,
269,
271,
277,
281,
283,
293,
307,
311,
313,
317,
331,
337,
347,
349,
353,
359,
367,
373,
379,
383,
389,
397,
401,
409,
419,
421,
431,
433,
439,
443,
449,
457,
461,
463,
467,
479,
487,
491,
499,
503,
509,
521,
523,
541,
547,
557,
563,
569,
571,
577,
587,
593,
599,
601,
607,
613,
617,
619,
631,
641,
643,
647,
653,
659,
661,
673,
677,
683,
691,
701,
709,
719,
727,
733,
739,
743,
751,
757,
761,
769,
773,
787,
797,
809,
811,
821,
823,
827,
829,
839,
853,
857,
859,
863,
877,
881,
883,
887,
907,
911,
919,
929,
937,
941,
947,
953,
967,
971,
977,
983,
991,
997,
}
-- generate all the numbers from 2 to n
function gen (n)
  return coroutine.wrap(function ()
    for i=2,n do coroutine.yield(i) end
  end)
end

-- filter the numbers generated by `g', removing multiples of `p'
function filter (p, g)
  return coroutine.wrap(function ()
    while 1 do
      local n = g()
      if n == nil then return end
      if math.fmod(n, p) ~= 0 then coroutine.yield(n) end
    end
  end)
end

N=1000		-- from command line
x = gen(N)		-- generate primes up to N
local j = 1
while 1 do
  local n = x()		-- pick a number until done
  if n == nil then break end
  print(n)		-- must be a prime number
  assert (n == siev [j])
  x = filter(n, x)	-- now remove its multiples
  j = j + 1
end