Getting Started with Lua on Windows 10: From Downloading the Wrong Package to Running Your First Program

[Rajeev Bagra]

Lua is one of the simplest and most elegant programming languages to learn. However, even before writing the first line of code, beginners often face challenges related to installation, choosing the correct download, extracting files, and understanding how to run programs.

This learning post documents the complete journey of setting up Lua on a Windows 10 laptop, including the mistakes encountered and how they were resolved.

---

Why Learn Lua?

Lua is a lightweight scripting language designed to be:

• Easy to learn
• Fast and efficient
• Embeddable in applications
• Cross-platform

Lua is used in:

• Game development
• Embedded systems
• Network devices
• Text editors
• Application scripting

A traditional first program in Lua is:

print("Hello World")

---

The Initial Goal

The objective was to begin learning Lua using the book Programming in Lua, starting with Chapter 1:

print("Hello World")

and later progressing to the recursive factorial example:

function fact(n)
    if n == 0 then
        return 1
    else
        return n * fact(n - 1)
    end
end

Before running these examples, Lua needed to be installed.

---

Issue #1: Downloading the Wrong Package

The first download selected was:

lua-5.5.0_Sources.tar.gz

This seemed reasonable because it was prominently listed on the download page.

However, this package contains:

• Lua source code
• Makefiles
• Files intended for developers building Lua itself

It does not contain ready-to-run Windows executables.

---

Understanding Source Code vs Executables

There are two common types of software downloads.

Source Code

Source code contains human-readable program files.

Example:

lua-5.5.0_Sources.tar.gz

These files must be compiled before use.

Typical contents include:

src
README
Makefile

---

Executables

Executable packages contain programs ready to run.

Example:

lua-5.5.0_Win32_bin.zip

or

lua-5.5.0_Win64_bin.zip

These contain:

lua55.exe
luac55.exe
lua55.dll

which can be executed immediately.

---

Issue #2: Windows Could Not Open the File

After downloading the source package, Windows displayed:

How do you want to open this file?

The file type was:

.gz

This happened because:

.tar.gz

is a compressed archive format commonly used on Linux and Unix systems.

Windows does not always have built-in support for these archives.

---

Understanding .gz Files

A file such as:

lua-5.5.0_Sources.tar.gz

contains two layers:

First:

.tar

which is an archive.

Second:

.gz

which compresses the archive.

To access the contents:

1. Extract the .gz
2. Extract the resulting .tar

Tools such as 7-Zip can perform these operations.

---

Choosing the Correct Download

The LuaBinaries page offered several choices.

Among them:

lua-5.5.0_Win32_bin.zip

Windows x86 executables

and

lua-5.5.0_Win64_bin.zip

Windows x64 executables

The executable package is the correct choice for beginners.

---

Issue #3: Determining Which Version to Download

The laptop specifications were checked.

The machine had:

Intel Core i5-6300U
8 GB RAM
Windows 10

Such hardware normally supports:

64-bit Windows

Therefore:

lua-5.5.0_Win64_bin.zip

would usually be preferred.

However, downloading:

lua-5.5.0_Win32_bin.zip

also works because 32-bit applications can run on 64-bit Windows.

---

Successfully Extracting Lua

After extracting the binary package, the folder contained:

lua55.dll
lua55
luac55
wlua55

Each file serves a different purpose.

---

lua55

The Lua interpreter.

This program executes Lua code.

---

luac55

The Lua compiler.

It converts Lua programs into Lua bytecode.

---

wlua55

A Windows version of Lua that runs without a console window.

Useful for GUI-based applications.

---

lua55.dll

The dynamic library used by Lua programs.

---

Issue #4: Where Do Commands Get Typed?

A common beginner question appeared:

Where do I type the command?

The answer is:

Not in File Explorer.

Instead:

1. Open the folder containing Lua.
2. Click the address bar.
3. Type:

cmd

4. Press Enter.

Windows opens Command Prompt directly inside that folder.

---

Opening the Lua Interpreter

Inside Command Prompt:

lua55

was entered.

Output:

Lua 5.5.0
>

The symbol:

>

is Lua’s interactive prompt.

Similar to Python’s:

>>>

---

First Successful Lua Program

At the prompt:

print("Hello World")

Output:

Hello World

Success!

The first Lua program had run correctly.

---

Understanding print()

The function:

print()

displays output.

Example:

print("Lua")

Output:

Lua

---

Experimenting with Numbers

Lua can immediately perform arithmetic.

Example:

print(2 + 3)

Output:

5

---

Variables in Lua

Variables store values.

Example:

x = 10
print(x)

Output:

10

This looks almost identical to Python:

x = 10
print(x)

---

Strings in Lua

Strings are sequences of characters.

Example:

name = "Rajeev"
print(name)

Output:

Rajeev

---

Functions in Lua

Functions group reusable code.

Example:

function square(n)
    return n * n
end

Testing:

print(square(5))

Output:

25

---

Understanding end

Lua uses:

end

to terminate blocks.

Example:

if x > 5 then
    print("Large")
end

Unlike Python, Lua does not rely on indentation.

Python:

if x > 5:
    print("Large")

Lua:

if x > 5 then
    print("Large")
end

---

The Recursive Factorial Example

One of the first examples from Programming in Lua is:

function fact(n)
    if n == 0 then
        return 1
    else
        return n * fact(n - 1)
    end
end

Testing:

print(fact(5))

Output:

120

---

How the Recursion Works

The call:

fact(5)

expands into:

5 × fact(4)

5 × 4 × fact(3)

5 × 4 × 3 × fact(2)

5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × fact(1)

5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 × fact(0)

Base case:

fact(0)

returns:

1

Therefore:

5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 120

---

Creating Lua Files

Interactive mode is useful for experimentation.

Real programs are saved in files.

Example:

hello.lua

Contents:

print("Hello World")
print("I am learning Lua")
print(2 + 3)

Run using:

lua55 hello.lua

Output:

Hello World
I am learning Lua
5

---

Key Lessons Learned

1. Source code packages are not the same as executable packages.
2. .tar.gz archives usually contain source code.
3. Beginners should download executable binaries.
4. Lua programs are executed using the Lua interpreter.
5. The Lua prompt (>) works similarly to Python’s interactive shell.
6. Lua uses end to terminate code blocks.
7. Functions, variables, strings, and arithmetic are easy to learn.
8. The first successful Lua program is often:

print("Hello World")

9. Recursive functions such as factorial demonstrate the power of Lua.
10. Command Prompt is used to run Lua programs from files.

---

Next Learning Topics

After successfully running Lua, the recommended learning sequence is:

1. Variables and data types
2. Arithmetic operators
3. Strings
4. Conditional statements
5. Loops
6. Functions
7. Recursion
8. Tables (Lua’s most important feature)
9. Modules using require
10. File handling
11. Building a CSV reader
12. Small command-line projects

With Lua installed and working, the learning journey can now move beyond setup and into programming itself.

[Author]

Posts