20 <p>This document explains how <a href="/">Luan</a> differs from <a href="http://www.lua.org">Lua</a> as described in the <a href="http://www.lua.org/manual/5.3/">Lua 5.3 Reference Manual</a>.</p>
55 <p>Lua is one of the simplest languages available, but Luan is even simpler. This means Luan removes more than it adds. Most of what is added is added in the library, not in the language itself.</p>
63 <p>Luan does not have the Lua <i>thread</i> type. Luan add a <i>binary</i> type that Lua doesn't have. This is because Lua strings can represent binary while Luan strings cannot.</p>
65 <p>The Luan <i>Nil</i> type is implemented as the Java <i>null</i>. The Luan <i>Boolean</i> type is implemented as the Java <i>Boolean</i> type. The Luan <i>Number</i> type is implemented as the Java <i>Number</i> type. The Luan <i>String</i> type is implemented as the Java <i>String</i> type. Actual numbers may be any subclass of the Java <i>Number</i> class.</p>
79 <p>Every module is initialized with two local functions: <tt>require</tt> and <tt>java</tt>. The module then uses these functions to get access to whatever else it needs.</p>
83 <p>Luan has the functions <tt>error</tt> and <tt>pcall</tt> but does not have <tt>xpcall</tt>. Luan adds the function <tt>try</tt> which looks and acts like try-catch blocks in other languages.</p>
103 <p>Unlike Lua, Luan generally considers the end of a line to be the end of a statement. This catches errors and encourages readability. The exception to this is in paranthesis ( <i>(...)</i>, <i>[...]</i>, and <i>{...}</i> ) where the end of line is treated as white space.</p>
113 <p>The Luan <b>if</b>, <b>while</b>, and <b>repeat</b> statement are the same as in Lua except that the condition expression must return a boolean value. Any other value type will produce an error. This helps catch errors and makes code more readable.</p>
119 <p>Luan has no numeric <b>for</b> statement. Luan only has generic <b>for</b> statement. Instead of the numeric <b>for</b> statement, Luan uses the <tt>range</tt> function in a generic <b>for</b> statement like this:</p>
125 <p>The Luan generic <b>for</b> statement is simpler than the Lua version because Luan only uses and expression, not an explist. So a <b>for</b> statement like:</p>
