LuaX

LuaX is a lightweight Lua-inspired language and virtual machine designed for fast execution, coroutines, tables, first-class functions, multiple-return values, and structured error handling.

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Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Installation
• Language Basics
  • Variables and Types
  • Tables
  • Functions and Closures
  • Multiple Returns
• Coroutines
• Error Handling
• Standard Libraries
• Example Script
• Contributing

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Introduction

LuaX is designed for:

• Lightweight scripting.
• Fast execution with a fixed-size VM stack.
• Coroutines and multiple-return values.
• Tables and first-class functions.
• Structured error handling via ErrFrame (try/catch-like).
• Integration with C functions (VAL_CFUNC).

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Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/your-repo/luax.git
cd luax
make

Run scripts:

./bin/luaX your_script.lx

or

./bin/luaX your_script.lua

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Language Basics

Variables and Types

local x = 123        -- integer
local y = 3.14       -- number
local b = true       -- boolean
local s = "hello"    -- string
local t = {}         -- table
local f = function(a) return a*2 end -- function

print(x, y, b, s, t, f)

Expected Output:

123 3.14 true hello table:0x7ff... function:0x7ff...

Tables

local person = { name = "Alice", age = 30 }
person.city = "Wonderland"

for k, v in pairs(person) do
    print(k, v)
end

Expected Output:

name Alice
age 30
city Wonderland

Functions and Closures

local function make_counter()
    local count = 0
    return function()
        count = count + 1
        return count
    end
end

local counter = make_counter()
print(counter()) -- 1
print(counter()) -- 2

Multiple Returns

local function swap(a, b)
    return b, a
end

local x, y = swap(1, 2)
print(x, y)

Expected Output:

2 1

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Coroutines

local co = coroutine.create(function()
    for i=1,3 do
        print("co", i)
        coroutine.yield(i)
    end
end)

while coroutine.status(co) ~= "dead" do
    local ok, val = coroutine.resume(co)
    print("resumed:", val)
end

Expected Output:

co 1
resumed: 1
co 2
resumed: 2
co 3
resumed: 3

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Error Handling

local ok, err = pcall(function()
    error("Something went wrong!")
end)

if not ok then
    print("Caught error:", err)
end

Expected Output:

Caught error: Something went wrong!

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Standard Libraries

LuaX includes:

• math – standard math functions.
• string – string manipulation.
• table – table utilities.
• io – input/output.
• os – operating system.
• coroutine – coroutines.
• random – random numbers.
• utf8 – UTF-8 utilities.
• date – date and time functions.
• async – async helpers.
• class – class/object system.
• exception – structured error handling.
• package – module system.

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Example Script

local function greet(name)
    return "Hello, " .. name
end

local names = {"Alice", "Bob", "Charlie"}
for _, n in ipairs(names) do
    print(greet(n))
end

Expected Output:

Hello, Alice
Hello, Bob
Hello, Charlie

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Contributing

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch: git checkout -b feature/my-feature.
3. Make your changes.
4. Commit your work: git commit -am 'Add new feature'.
5. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/my-feature.
6. Submit a pull request.