Creating Solid APIs with Lua

Lua and C code examples that illustrate C/Lua integration.

These code samples were written as companions to the O'Reilly book Creating Solid APIs with Lua. The samples are built up chapter-by-chapter, and focus on a particular game called EatyGuy, which looks like this:

This game is text-based in order to enable simple graphics that work across platforms yet don't require any libraries. The code has runs on macOS, Ubuntu, and Windows.

Run make from the root repo directory to build all the examples. The built products are created in each chapter's directory (ch1, ch2, and so on). The game examples can be run by, for example, in ch6, typing the command ./eatyguy10 (each chapter has its own version of the game). Use the arrow keys to move your character around, and press q to quit.

Many more details are provided in the book! :)

Table of Contents

This section outlines the flow of content across the chapters of the book and corresponding subdirectories of this repo. Many of these topics center on learning Lua's C API.

• Chapter 1 Running a Lua Script from C

  This chapter covers acquiring Lua's source as well as running Lua scripts from C.

• Chapter 2 Calling C from Lua

  Writing C functions that Lua can call.

• Chapter 3 Using Lua Values in C

  Manipulating Lua primitives and tables from C.

• Chapter 4 Making Your API Classy

  A review of Lua classes, and how C works with Lua's userdata type to make safe, class-like objects in Lua.

• Chapter 5 Detecting Errors

  Working with Lua errors (similar to exceptions) from C; making it easier to notice certain common mistakes.

• Chapter 6 Sandboxing User Scripts

  Limiting the API and resource access of user scripts, including fine-grained constraints on CPU and memory consumption.