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Wikipedia Chooses Lua As Its New Template Language

Posted by Unknown on from the mccarthy-seen-greenspunning-in-his-grave dept.

bonch writes "In an attempt to tackle the inefficient complexity of its current template system, Wikipedia will be adopting the Lua scripting language. Known most for its use in videogame scripting, particularly World of Warcraft, Lua is lightweight and designed for easy integration into existing applications. The transition is expected to begin after the release of MediaWiki 1.19, possibly in May." Basically, the template system started turning into an ugly programming language. There was debate over using Javascript or Lua; Lua ultimately won due to implementation concerns. The mailing list threads announcing the decision and discussing the change have further details.

3 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. Stop delaying the inevitable. by MadKeithV · · Score: 5, Funny

    "the template system started turning into an ugly programming language" - ah, any sufficiently complex system eventually evolves to contain a limited, broken version of Common Lisp.
    Stop delaying the inevitable!

  2. Sounds exciting by YutakaFrog · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Lua has some notable differences from more prominent languages like Java, but as a World of Warcraft addon developer, I find it a surprisingly robust and fun language to program in. I look forward to this change to Wikipedia and hope it works well for all of their contributors.

  3. Re:Lua by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Javascript is web scale. Lua is not web scale. Also: Lua comes from Brazil. You know what else comes from Brazil? Waxed balls. I wouldn't trust a programmer that waxes his balls. If he can't make good decisions involving his nutsack, can he make godo decisions involving language design? (Just look at PHP!)