Does he consider ever separating associative types from array/list types,
There's a standard way to attach metadata to tables, and it's to put them in metatables. Add a meta-field for whatever information you need, write predicates isarray() / ishash() which abstract implementation details away, and you're done.
or at least adding or advocating for a standard way to flag a type as a list?
The Lua team isn't exactly into advocating any convention that isn't the obvious one best way to do things. Whether you think it's a wise choice or not, it has become a defining feature of Lua, and some reliable trolling material on the mailing list :)
