Lua is the best programming language (change my mind)

In a multi-year Reddit discussion, developers debated whether Lua is best described as an "underrated" language, pointing to its embedded use in large-scale projects such as Vermintide 2, reported at roughly 1.2 million lines, as well as platforms like Roblox and OpenResty. Supporters emphasized Lua's minimal syntax and the ease of embedding it through its C API. Critics focused on issues that limit its appeal as a standalone language, including 1-based indexing, a small standard library, and a fragmented ecosystem.

Much of the discussion implicitly framed Lua's commercial success around its role as a high-performance scripting layer inside larger C and C++ systems. Ecosystem maturity and package management, particularly LuaRocks, were repeatedly mentioned as unresolved constraints when Lua is used outside that context.