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Philippe Lhoste wrote:
BTW, I will ask Lua authors to go fetch their crystal ball ;-) Do you think the C API (including lauxlib) of Lua 5.0 will be pretty stable now, or may it still have some deep changes, like those from Lua 4.0-work4 to Lua 5.0-work0?
I don't see how they could make such a promise, when API and feature changes occured on 4.0 even between alpha, beta, and release.
The purpose of the question is actually to know if we can start coding using this version, coping with small changes as working on Lua goes, or does we risk to have to rewrite major parts of the applications/libraries if we dare to use this unofficial and experimental release?
Exactly. Now, before the Lua authors say "this is not worth the trouble so let's stop experimental releases", note that this same issue exists for alpha and beta versions too. When someone starts a project, commercial or otherwise, they must make the decision to go with the old stable version, or anticipate the upcoming version. If an alpha or beta release looks good (or even an experimental release, as we have witnessed with all the recent anouncements), many choose to bet on the upcoming version.
I'd ask the Lua authors to consider that many people need to track their releases. It would help if there was a pattern of convergence as the final release is approached. It would help if some simple policy where defined (for example, no API changes between beta and final release) and adhered to, so that people tracking the releases know what to expect.
-John -- http:// i . /