What is B:Lua?

B:Lua (pronounced Blua) is an open source project to create a full featured standalone Lua IDE (note: B:Lua is not an Eclipse plugin and has nothing to do with Eclipse except using the same Java API (SWT/JFace)).

B:Lua will also have a whole bunch of game related features, initially for World of Warcraft (that you can turn on/off).

B:Lua will have features such as:

1. Real-time code parsing and error checking
2. Code assist
3. Code completion
4. Code hovering / Variable info
5. Global search/replace with regular expressions
6. Fast code jumping for functions, methods and globals declared in other files
7. Much much more

News - December 13, 2005

I get a lot of emails asking about the status of B:Lua, so many that I don't have time to reply to all of them. I won't lie to you, it's been on ice and little has been worked on it. I just haven't had the time, it's that simple. I was hoping more people would jump on board and help develop, but I understand that most people want to use the product, and don't really have time to build on it. I respect that, such is life. I've also gotten emails saying people want to donate money to the project. Before, I was reluctant to do that, but now that my job is slowing down and I'm thinking of picking up B:Lua again, it might be a good incentive to get the ball rolling. Therefore I have opened donations for the project. You can donate by clicking the button below, or the donate link at the top right on the sourceforge project page. Money will be used to support my life while I work on B:Lua.

I'm very excited that so many are still downloading and using B:Lua, despite it's fragile Alpha state. This encourages me further! I hope everyone will have a great christmas, and that I can make a true update to this project soon.

Older News - July 08, 2005

My real job is eating me alive. I have not had much time for B:Lua, but that does not mean it's dead (because it's very much not dead). I'm happy to see many many downloads, and quite a few happy users out there. As always, anyone with time to spare is welcome to become a member of the project. And I hope to be able to work on it as much as my real life permits.

Older News - April 19, 2005 - Alpha Release!

Work has been staggeringly slow on my part, and trying to code a decent (AST/PSI/...) tree system that I feel I can live with when it comes to really tying everything together - has just been frustrating. To get some breathing room, and perhaps spark some interest, I've packaged up B:Lua and put up the first Alpha release. B:Lua is pretty stable, and I got a nice email from a CVS user that was impressed with what he saw, so I figured "why not".

You can find the download in the Files section (as well as in the navigational menu) (if you get 404 not found downloading, try a different download server, it takes some time for the file to get up on all servers). If you can't find it via the usual Sourceforge links, click here.

The installer is Windows only and it's packaged and created using NSIS. After installing, just run blua.exe, or doubeclick the icons depending where you decided to install them (desktop, taskbar etc). The installer will give you the option to launch B:Lua as well.. you really can't miss it!

In the end, what you see is what you get, pretty much. Color settings do nothing, some settings may do nothing, some work. Some won't take effect until you restart B:Lua.. etc. Large files (3000+ lines of code) may parse slowly.. and so on. I hope it's useful in it's current state.

Enjoy (and remember, it's Alpha).

Even Older News - March 23, 2005

I've gotten a few emails lately asking for updates to B:Lua. I apologize for the lack of website updates (or emails I haven't replied to), and I'll try to make them more often in the future. B:Lua progress has been slow over the last 2 months. Mostly because I personally have had a nightmare of work to do at my real job, and have just been to exhausted to work on B:Lua when I get home.

Over the last weeks I've been trying to write a parser which will be much more flexible than the current parser and that's still in progress. Unfortunately it's the type of thing that you can sit and stare at for hours without actually getting anything done. This is in part thanks to the nature of Lua and its "insane flexibility". Every time I come across some code, thinking it's the craziest Lua code yet, the next find turns out to be even crazier. If Lua had some actual restrictions as to how you could write things, such as function definitions, it'd be a much easier thing to parse and error check. Such is not the nature of Lua however, and also against the whole point of Lua. What it comes down to, is that writing a working parser is 1. A painful process. 2. A mind-boggling process to debug. 3. Time consuming.

I'm hoping that my job will slow down some in the coming weeks so that I can spend more time on B:Lua.

In other news, a new developer has joined the project, Jon Williams. His help will be much appreciated.

I realize that people want a downloadable, installable version of B:Lua, preferably yesterday, but that's not the priority of the project. Priority is to get something that's useful and working well. Yes, the current version does a pretty good job of parsing Lua code, pointing out errors and unused variables, as well as undefined variables, but please consider the flip-side, which is disappointed end-users (you guys), a buggy product, and tons of emails for me to deal with regarding how it doesn't work.

I hope there's some patience left in all you waiting for a release, and as usual, if you really really want to use B:Lua now, download the CVS source from sourceforge and run that through your favorite Java IDE. (And yes, there is CVS code up on sourceforge, but the site has for some reason not updated and still shows it as 0 files).

Platform

B:Lua is written in Java and as such is very portable. Currently B:Lua is developed to run on Windows, but once a stable release is out, other platforms will be supported.

License

B:Lua is FREE, and is released under the General Public License (GNU). Full license text can be found here.

Status of B:Lua

B:Lua is currently in Alpha.

Screenshots

There's a few screenshots from the development version.

1. screenshot #1
2. screenshot #2
3. screenshot #3

Current Developers

B:Lua currently has the following developers:

1. Emil Crumhorn - Project Founder / Developer

Old / Inactive Developers

1. Frippe - Developer
2. Gregor Brunmar - Developer
3. Jon Williams - Developer

Contact

If you wish to be part of the B:Lua project or have questions, please feel free to email . If you wish to be part of the team, please list your experience in the Java field (or relevant field), as well as any previous project involvement. Lua knowledge is a plus but not required. If your experience lies in a completely different field (such as Doc-writing) you're more than welcome to help out!