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Getting to Know Programming with Classic Languages: Lua and Fortran

Programming languages have been around for decades, and some of them are still widely used today. In this article, we’ll explore two classic programming languages, i.e. Lua and Fortran. We’ll dive into their history, how they work, and why they are still relevant in modern applications.

Introduction

Lua is a lightweight and flexible programming language known for being simple but powerful. It is designed to be embedded into other applications, making it a popular choice for scripting. Lua is widely used in the gaming industry to control game logic and AI behavior. It is also used in web development to create dynamic websites and interactive applications.

Lua was first created in 1993 by Roberto Ierusalimschy, Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo, and Waldemar Celes at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brazil. Their goal was to develop a language that was fast, efficient, and easy to embed into other software. One of Lua’s key features is dynamic typing, meaning you don’t need to specify the type of data a variable will hold. This makes coding more flexible and faster.

Over the years, Lua has become one of the most popular scripting languages in game engines like Unity and World of Warcraft. Its simplicity and adaptability make Lua a favorite for developers working on various types of software.

On the other hand, Fortran (short for Formula Translation) is one of the oldest programming languages still in use today. It was developed by IBM in the 1950s for scientific and engineering purposes. Fortran was designed to be easier to read and write compared to assembly language, making it a popular choice for numerical computing and data processing.

Fortran is known for its speed and efficiency, making it ideal for handling complex math calculations and scientific simulations. Today, Fortran is still used in fields like physics, engineering, meteorology, and astrophysics, especially for weather modeling and fluid dynamics.

Over the decades, Fortran has continued to evolve with new versions like Fortran 77, Fortran 90, and Fortran 2008, adding modern features like object-oriented programming and parallel computing. Even after more than 60 years, Fortran remains a top choice for scientists and engineers because of its ability to handle heavy computational tasks quickly and efficiently.

Install Lua

The Lua programming language is rarely mentioned among many programmers today, and its official documentation can feel outdated. Installing Lua on your device requires patience and attention to detail to ensure it runs smoothly. Therefore, the following section will guide you through the steps to download and install Lua on Windows.

Writing Syntax and How To Run the First Program In Lua

When talking about the first program in any language, two magical words often come to mind — “Hello World.” It’s a fun and classic tradition. Interestingly, writing a “Hello World” program in Lua looks almost identical to Python. Yes, you heard that right! Here’s a look at the Lua syntax and how to run it.

First, create a new file named hello-world.lua and get ready to dive into the Lua environment.

print("Hello, World!")

Next, press CTRL + ` to open a new terminal. In the terminal, type lua hello-world.lua.

>> lua hello-world.lua
Hello, World!

And just like that — TADA! Your first Lua program is up and running!

Pros and Cons of Lua

Even if you’re just getting to know Lua through the classic “Hello World” program, you might already notice how its syntax feels a lot like natural language. Lua’s simplicity makes it a scripting language, meaning it uses dynamic typing. While this flexibility is great, it often comes with a trade-off — Lua can be slower, much like Python.

Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of Lua.

Pros

Cons

// example.txt
Hello, World!
-- readfile.lua
local file = io.open("example.txt", "r")

if file then
  local content = file:read("a")
  print(content)
  file:close()
else
  print("File not found!")
end

The code above shows how Lua requires several manual steps to open and read files. And the result will be:

>> lua readfile.lua
Hello, World!
for i = 1, 5 do
  print("Task " ..i.. " started.")
  os.execute("sleep 1")
  print("Task " ..i.. " finished.")
end

And the result will be:

>> lua main.lua
Task 1 started.
'sleep' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
Task 1 finished.
Task 2 started.
'sleep' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
Task 2 finished.
Task 3 started.
'sleep' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
Task 3 finished.

Install Fortran

On the other hand, the Fortran programming language is rarely mentioned today due to its declining popularity amidst the evolving tech stack. A few decades ago, Fortran was widely used by scientists, engineers, and researchers for tasks involving complex mathematical calculations, simulations, and data analysis. Despite its limited community and the difficulty in finding resources for installing Fortran, the following section will guide you through the steps to install Fortran on Windows.

Writing Syntax and How To Run the First Program In Fortran

Once again, we turn to the classic “Hello World” program. To me, writing Fortran feels like following a process with a clear beginning and end. It’s worth noting that Fortran comes in several versions, including Fortran 1990, Fortran 1995, Fortran 2003, and Fortran 2008 — as listed by MinGW.

In this guide, we’ll write your first Fortran program using the 2008 version and walk through how to run it. Let’s dive into the world of Fortran!

First, create a new file named hello-world.f08 and prepare to explore the Fortran environment.

program hello_world
  implicit none
  print *, "Hello, World!"
end program

Next, press CTRL + ` to open a new terminal. In the terminal, type gfortran hello-world.f08 -o hello-world.exe. This command compiles your Fortran 2008 program and generates an executable file named hello-world.exe.

To run the program, type ./hello-world.exe to see the result.

>> gfortran hello-world.f08 -o hello-world.exe
>> ./hello-world.exe
Hello, World!

And — TADA! Your first Fortran 2008 program is successfully running!

Pros and Cons of Fortran

While Lua has a syntax that is more similar to human language, Fortran is more challenging for beginners due to its more technical and rigid structure. However, despite its perceived difficulty in learning, Fortran has endured for decades thanks to its strength in mathematical calculations and scientific applications. Its reliability in handling numerical computations and complex data analysis has kept Fortran relevant in some fields, despite its declining popularity in the era of modern programming languages.

Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of Fortran.

Pros

Cons

program concat_string
  implicit none

  character(len=4) :: name = "John"
  character(len=3) :: surname = "Doe"

  result = trim(adjustl(name)) // '' // trim(adjustl(surname))

  print *, "My friend's name is", result
end program

And do you know what the result is? The code above will generate an error because we haven’t specified a type for the “result” variable. So, the correct code is:

program concat_string
  implicit none

  character(len=4) :: name = "John"
  character(len=3) :: surname = "Doe"
  character(len=8) :: result

  result = trim(adjustl(name)) // ' ' // trim(adjustl(surname))

  print *, "My friend's name is ", result
end program

There’s something even weirder. Suppose we reduce the len=“4” of the variable “name” to len=“3”, what will happen?

>> ./main.exe
My friend's name is Joh Doe

Yep, the output will be “Joh Doe” only.

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