RE: Lua speed (was class implementation)

["Kerry Thompson" <kerryt@...>]

> My point is that Lua can be perfectly useable in a twitch game. It
> depends on how much Lua has to run between the recognition of an event
> and the visual result of that action.

Exactly. That's my point too. Use Lua right, and it can be fast enough for
just about anything. If you have to do a lot of processing between the
recognition of an event and the visual result, though, that's likely to be a
bottleneck you need to put into C. That doesn't mean you can't use Lua--just
that you may need to take advantage of Lua's ability to call C.

The original Castle Wolfenstein on the Apple II did a lot of its animations
at machine speed (lots of 6502 assembly language), but it handled keystrokes
with interpreted Basic. It was real easy to get ahead of the machine and
lose keystrokes.

Of course, today's processors are way, way beyond the 6502. On the other
hand, we demand a lot more of them, especially in games.

One last time, then I'll drop it: Lua is fast enough if used right. My point
is simply that you need to be aware of the way Lua functions in order to use
it effectively.

Cordially,

Kerry Thompson