Re: I just used TCL instead of Lua - here is why

[Andrew Starks <andrew@...>]

> On Jan 11, 2021, at 05:44, Pierre Chapuis <catwell@archlinux.us> wrote:
> 
> Does anyone here have the same problem, a solution (I might just not know the Lua on Windows ecosystem well enough) or a project that aims to solve this?

I didn’t want the first part of your question, asked many times in different ways, to get lost in the helpful answers to the second part of your question. 

Thankfully, there was a solution, as has been pointed out. I’ve used lua-odbc successfully in the distant past. But your core experience is the norm. When trying to use Lua as a scripting language, especially on windows, it’s often a PITA. Often not because the solution doesn’t exist, but because, for whatever reason, it’s not accessible. 

The same is true for developers new to Lua, looking to embed it, that are either curious, or are told by their tyrannical  product manager that it’s a hard requirement. They know python, or just about any other language out there, and are shocked by the lack of much bigger standard library and what feels like an uneven ecosystem. 

There are many that love the language from past experiences or can appreciate its simplicity and excellent design and so they do the work to find the excellent libraries and projects that are out there. 

I have repeated this many times and I apologize for that, but I’m sad that many never get past the obstacles experienced by the OP and thus miss out on those discoveries.  Lua is such a beautiful piece of engineering and design and I think it’s a shame that many miss out because of this issue. 

-Andrew
Tyrannical Product Manager