Re: Interest in Lua Web Plug-in?

[therandthem <therandthem@...>]

I'm going to start a list for this project.  This will be the last thing I want to post on this topic on this list.

Lua is the fastest dynamically type programming language.  It is up to other languages to become as fast as Lua.  This plugin would allow Lua to be used for the next 10 years instead of Javascript or ActionScript.  That is the problem it would solve.  It may not be a big problem, but that is the problem.

If people don't install the plugin then the developer will have made the wrong bet.  I can think of many applications, however, that people will have no problem installing a plugin.  For example, if I wanted to see a video that I could only see if I installed a professionally presented, open-source, free Lua plugin, I would install the plugin.  Pretty simple.  If the target audience won't install such a plugin, then don't do web-deployed, end-user development with this Lua plugin.

Yes, the plugin would have to support different environments.  IE, Firefox and Safari support is the target.  Opera can write their own.

Also, JavaScript integration in the browser is out.  It is not a goal of mine.  It makes no sense.  Lua can do everything that JavaScript can and is just as easy to learn.  This plugin will be a Lua plugin only.  The one and only language will be Lua.

A Lua to JavaScript compiler wouldn't solve the original problem as I explained it, which is all about speed.

Thanks,

McKinley

----- Original Message ----
From: David Given <dg@cowlark.com>
To: Lua list <lua@bazar2.conectiva.com.br>
Sent: Wednesday, March 7, 2007 10:48:28 AM
Subject: Re: Interest in Lua Web Plug-in?

Forgive me for saying this, but... what exactly is this plugin *for*? What
problem does it solve? Because as far as I can tell, in its current form it's
simply not going to work.

It goes like this:

- people do not have this plugin installed.
- a web site that uses this plugin will, therefore, have to force users to
install it.
- some people won't install it out of principle. Some people won't install it
because they can't be bothered. Some people won't install it because they
*can't* (how many platforms are you wanting to support?).
- therefore, unless your website works *without* the plugin --- which means
that there's no point in installing it --- then any website that requires it
is going to have viewer views than one which doesn't require it.

That's not to say that a system for allowing web page scripting to be done in
Lua wouldn't be really handy... but I don't think a plugin is the way to go.
(I don't think it can be. You'd have to support about a dozen different
platforms, and even then what about platforms that don't support plugins?)

What about a Lua->Javascript compiler? They're similar languages; it shouldn't
be too hard. Yes, Javascript is nasty but it's *everywhere*. It allows rich
interaction on just about everything --- I can use Google Maps on my Wii.
Being able to write code in Lua, with all of its RAD abilities, and then
deploy onto any web browser would be very cool. Take a look at Google Web
Toolkit sometime; it does this for Java. Unfortunately, Java is very
cumbersome for writing UIs in.

-- 
┌── ｄｇ＠ｃｏｗｌａｒｋ．ｃｏｍ ─── http://www.cowlark.com ───────────────────
│ "Wizards get cranky, / Dark days dawn, / Riders smell manky, / The road
│ goes on. / Omens are lowering, / Elves go West; / The Shire needs
│ scouring, / You may as well quest." - John M. Ford






 
____________________________________________________________________________________
Now that's room service!  Choose from over 150,000 hotels
in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit.
http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097