NAME

       lua - Lua interpreter

SYNOPSIS

       lua [ options ] [ script [ args ] ]

DESCRIPTION

       lua is the standalone Lua interpreter.  It loads and executes Lua programs, either in textual source form
       or  in precompiled binary form.  (Precompiled binaries are output by luac, the Lua compiler.)  lua can be
       used as a batch interpreter and also interactively.

       After handling the options, the Lua program in  file  script  is  loaded  and  executed.   The  args  are
       available  to  script  as strings in a global table named arg and also as arguments to its main function.
       When called without arguments, lua behaves as lua -v -i if the standard input is a terminal, and as lua -
       otherwise.

       In interactive mode, lua prompts the user, reads lines from the standard input, and executes them as they
       are read.  If the line contains an expression, then the line is evaluated and the result is printed.   If
       a  line  does  not  contain a complete statement, then a secondary prompt is displayed and lines are read
       until a complete statement is formed or a syntax error is found.

       Before handling command line options and scripts, lua checks the contents of  the  environment  variables
       LUA_INIT_5_4  and LUA_INIT, in that order.  If the contents are of the form '@filename', then filename is
       executed.  Otherwise, the contents are assumed to be a Lua statement and is executed.  When  LUA_INIT_5_4
       is defined, LUA_INIT is ignored.

OPTIONS

       -e stat
              execute statement stat.

       -i     enter interactive mode after executing script.

       -l mod require library mod into global mod.

       -l g=mod
              require library mod into global g.

       -v     show version information.

       -E     ignore environment variables.

       -W     turn warnings on.

       --     stop handling options.

       -      stop handling options and execute the standard input as a file.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       The  following  environment  variables  affect  the execution of lua.  When defined, the version-specific
       variants take priority and the version-neutral variants are ignored.

       LUA_INIT, LUA_INIT_5_4
              Code to be executed before command line options and scripts.

       LUA_PATH, LUA_PATH_5_4
              Initial value of package.cpath, the path used by require to search for Lua loaders.

       LUA_CPATH, LUA_CPATH_5_4
              Initial value of package.cpath, the path used by require to search for C loaders.

EXIT STATUS

       If a script calls os.exit, then lua exits  with  the  given  exit  status.   Otherwise,  lua  exits  with
       EXIT_SUCCESS  (0  on POSIX systems) if there were no errors and with EXIT_FAILURE (1 on POSIX systems) if
       there were errors.  Errors raised in interactive mode do not cause exits.

DIAGNOSTICS

       Error messages should be self explanatory.

SEE ALSO

       luac(1)
       The documentation at lua.org, especially section 7 of the reference manual.

AUTHORS

       R. Ierusalimschy, L. H. de Figueiredo, W. Celes

                                          $Date: 2022/09/23 09:06:36 $                                 LUA5.4(1)