Whats new in version 5.2.3:
- Main changes:
- support for integers (64-bit by default)
- better support for small architectures ("Small Lua" with 32-bit numbers)
- bitwise operators
- basic utf-8 library
- utf-8 escapes in literal strings
- strip option in lua_dump/string.dump
- Language:
- userdata can have any Lua value as uservalue
- integer division
- more flexible rules for some metamethods
- Libraries:
- functions for packing/unpacking numbers
- strip option in string.dump
- table library respects metamethods
- new function table.copy
- new function debug.Csize
- C API:
- new functions: lua_rotate, lua_isyieldable, lua_strtonum
- lua_gettable and similar functions return type of resulted value
- Lua standalone interpreter:
- can be used as calculator; no need to prefix with \'=\'
- arg table available to all code
Publisher review:Lua is a powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language. It combines simple procedural syntax with powerful data description constructs based on associative arrays and extensible semantics.
Lua is dynamically typed, runs by interpreting bytecode for a register-based virtual machine, and has automatic memory management with incremental garbage collection, making it ideal for configuration, scripting, and rapid prototyping.
Operating system:Mac OS X
Lua 5.2.3 details 
