Query: why is lua used for plugins and modding?
Quick answer (I have bolded words ending in a number):
Lua is commonly used for plugins and modding in games and applications because it was designed to be easily embedded and extended1. Some key reasons include:
Lua is lightweight and simple, making it easy to integrate into existing codebases without much overhead2. The Lua interpreter is self-contained in a small C library that can be easily linked to other programs3.
Being embedded directly into the host application means plugins and mods written in Lua have full access to the application's API4. This allows for more extensive customization and integration with the base software compared to other scripting options.
The language is small, clean, and fast5. Lua code is straightforward to write and maintain compared to other languages like C++ typically used in games. This makes it accessible for modders and plugin authors without programming experience6.
Lua also allows for quick changes and iteration7. Developers can get more work done faster by offloading non-critical tasks like game configuration, debugging, and event handling to Lua scripts8.
The permissive MIT license permits commercial use of Lua9. This legal clarity helps games and applications monetize modding ecosystems built with Lua scripting.
In summary, Lua's simplicity, performance, and embeddability make it well-suited for extending applications through external plugins and mods[1][2].
(The [1] and [2] at the end do actually link to Kagi’s sources, and belong there.)
This seems like the LLM incorrectly parsing citation footnote links in the source material, or perhaps hallucinating its own citation footnote links.
Words1 with2 numbers3 shouldn't be present in the output