Open-source alternatives to Lua

mruby is a lightweight Ruby interpreter designed to be embedded into C applications. It compiles Ruby source code into a compact, platform-independent bytecode that executes on a register-based virtual machine, and exposes a stable C API for host programs to initialize the interpreter, load bytecode, and invoke Ruby methods at runtime. The interpreter distinguishes itself through a tightly coupled parser and compiler that performs lexical analysis, syntax parsing, and bytecode generation in a single pass without constructing an intermediate AST, minimizing memory overhead. It also includes a

ChakraCore is an embedded JavaScript engine designed to be integrated as a library within a host application. Its primary purpose is to provide a programmable scripting layer and a lightweight runtime environment for executing JavaScript code and managing state via a programmatic interface. The project focuses on bridging high-level scripting with low-level system calls through a C API. This allows developers to implement custom scripting engines and embed JavaScript execution directly into applications to enable task automation and functional extensions. The engine utilizes a bytecode-based

Goja is a JavaScript engine and ECMAScript compliant interpreter implemented entirely in Go. It serves as an embedded scripting engine that allows Go applications to execute JavaScript code and integrate a programmable scripting layer without relying on Cgo or external native dependencies. The project functions as a bridge between Go and JavaScript, enabling bidirectional data exchange and function invocation. It allows Go hosts to expose native structs, slices, and maps as JavaScript objects and arrays, while providing mechanisms to export script values and functions back into native Go type

Rhai is an embedded scripting engine and dynamically typed language designed for integration into Rust applications. It functions as an abstract syntax tree compiler and native interop layer, allowing developers to map Rust types and functions into a scripting environment for bidirectional communication. The project serves as a framework for creating customizable domain-specific languages. It allows for the definition of custom operators, syntax, and restricted execution environments, enabling the creation of specialized languages with tailored functional sets. The engine covers a broad rang

ChakraCore is an embeddable JavaScript engine and high-performance scripting runtime. It provides a just-in-time compiler that converts JavaScript source code into optimized machine code during runtime to increase execution speed and throughput. The engine utilizes a multi-tiered compilation pipeline and tiered machine code generation to balance startup time with execution speed. Memory is managed via a concurrent garbage collector that reclaims unreachable objects on background threads to minimize application pauses. The project provides capabilities for embedded JavaScript execution and au

This project is a translated historical chronicle and programming language reference documenting the technical evolution and standardization of JavaScript over two decades. It serves as a software engineering archive that tracks version drafts and the influence of various standards bodies on the development of the language. The repository provides a Chinese translation of a comprehensive history, analyzing the socio-political and technical milestones of the ecosystem. It maps language milestones and chronicles the development of official specifications to provide historical context on how the

This project is an ECMAScript 2015 reference guide and JavaScript language cheat sheet. It provides a concise summary of the language specifications, syntax updates, and new features introduced in the 2015 standard. The guide serves as a technical overview of modern language patterns used to manage modular code structures and asynchronous operations. It functions as a reference for implementing current coding standards and studying core updates to the language. The content covers a wide range of capabilities, including asynchronous programming, object modeling, and module management. It deta

This repository is a collection of JavaScript coding challenges and a comprehensive interview guide. It provides reference implementations and educational examples designed to help developers master language fundamentals and prepare for technical interviews. The project covers a wide array of specialized implementations, including functional programming patterns like currying and partial application, as well as asynchronous patterns for concurrency control. It also includes practical examples of Document Object Model manipulation and the implementation of common data structures such as stacks

pysheeet is a technical reference library providing a curated collection of code snippets and implementation patterns for advanced Python development, system integration, and high-performance computing. It serves as a comprehensive guide for implementing low-level network programming, native C extensions, and asynchronous and concurrent programming. The project provides specialized frameworks for the development and deployment of large language models, including tools for distributed GPU inference and high-performance serving. It also includes detailed patterns for high-performance computing

This project is a comprehensive Lisp AI implementation library that provides reference implementations for various artificial intelligence paradigms and symbolic algorithms. It functions as a multi-purpose toolkit containing a logic programming engine, a natural language processing suite, and a symbolic mathematics toolkit. The library is distinguished by its diverse architectural frameworks, including a Prolog-style execution engine that uses unification and goal-driven backtracking, and a system for simulating human decision-making through expert system shells and certainty factors. It also

This project is a garbage collection library and memory allocator for C and C++ that provides automatic reclamation of unreachable objects. It functions as a memory management system that can replace standard allocation functions to automate memory reclamation without requiring source modification. The system is distinguished by its ability to perform incremental and generational garbage collection to reduce application pauses, as well as parallel collection to distribute tracing across multiple CPU cores. It includes a specialized string manipulation library that uses shared structures to en

Luau is a high-performance programming language evolved from Lua 5.1. It consists of a bytecode virtual machine, an embeddable scripting engine, and a static code analyzer designed to provide a secure, sandboxed execution environment for host applications. The project is distinguished by its gradual typing system, which combines automatic type inference with optional manual annotations to detect bugs without requiring full static typing. It also features native vector mathematics for high-performance operations and a specialized debugging system that uses bytecode patching to minimize executi

Wren is a bytecode-compiled, class-based scripting language designed as an embeddable programming language. It provides a lightweight runtime and interface for executing dynamic scripts directly within host software applications. The engine utilizes a single-pass compiler to transform source code into compact bytecode and a virtual machine to process those instructions. It supports concurrent task execution through a system of lightweight fibers and coroutines. The language implements a class-based object model with dynamic message dispatch for organizing code into reusable components. It al

Monty is a sandboxed execution environment designed primarily for running Python code generated by AI models. It provides a secure, isolated runtime that blocks host access, enforces resource limits, and supports pre-execution type checking against built-in type hints to catch signature mismatches before code runs. The sandbox can persist its interpreter state at external function calls, allowing execution sessions to be serialized, stored, and later resumed from a file or database. What distinguishes Monty is its combination of stateful, resumable execution with multi-language native embeddi

WasmEdge is an extensible WebAssembly runtime that executes WebAssembly bytecode in a secure sandbox for cloud, edge, and embedded applications. It functions as a multi-language compiler, compiling applications written in Rust, JavaScript, Go, and Python into WebAssembly bytecode for sandboxed execution, and as a server-side JavaScript runtime that runs JavaScript programs with ES6 modules, NPM packages, and Node.js-compatible APIs. The runtime also serves as an AI inference runtime, executing AI models from JavaScript using WASI-NN plug-ins for inference tasks on personal devices and edge har

rusty_v8 is a Rust wrapper for the V8 JavaScript engine that allows for the embedding of a JavaScript runtime into native applications. It provides core components for managing engine bindings, memory allocation, sandboxed isolates, and the execution of WebAssembly modules. The project features a native host function bridge to map Rust functions to JavaScript objects and a dedicated memory allocator to manage thread-safe allocation and heap pressure. It includes a system for compiling and executing binary WebAssembly modules within the hosted native environment. The runtime covers capabiliti

Seastar is a C++ server application framework and asynchronous programming library designed for building high-performance, shared-nothing server applications. It functions as a high-performance I/O engine providing direct disk and network access through a shared-nothing framework that partitions data and execution across CPU cores. The framework distinguishes itself through a thread-per-core architecture that eliminates locking and resource contention by assigning one execution thread to each physical CPU core. It implements a userspace TCP/IP stack and kernel-bypass techniques, integrating w

Extism is a cross-language WebAssembly plugin framework that lets applications written in any programming language load and execute plugins written in any other language. It provides a universal plugin system where host applications use idiomatic SDKs to load WebAssembly modules, call exported functions, and pass data back and forth, while plugin authors use development kits that handle memory management and host interaction so they can focus on business logic. The framework distinguishes itself through its comprehensive approach to cross-language integration, offering schema-driven binding g

Cello is a programming language extension for C that provides a higher-level implementation of the language. It integrates an object-oriented framework, an automated garbage collection system, and a runtime reflection library to enable dynamic type inspection. The project implements a structured system for object orientation within C, including support for classes, type classes, and polymorphism. It includes a runtime exception handling system to intercept execution errors and initiate recovery procedures. The framework further provides generic programming capabilities for creating reusable

Otto is a Go implementation of a JavaScript interpreter and embedded scripting engine. It provides a runtime environment for executing JavaScript code within native applications and includes a parser that converts source code into an abstract syntax tree for analysis and processing. The project enables the creation of custom scripting interfaces by binding native Go functions into the JavaScript global scope. It also includes a utility to translate JavaScript regular expression patterns into compatible formats for other programming languages. The engine supports safe script sandboxing throug

Moltworker is an AI agent sandbox and model orchestrator designed for the secure execution of untrusted code and shell commands generated by large language models. It functions as a gateway proxy that routes requests to multiple AI providers through a unified interface, integrating a container runtime backed by S3-compatible object storage to persist state across ephemeral lifecycles. The system distinguishes itself by combining an AI model orchestrator with a headless browser controller for automated web scraping and screenshot capture. It manages the full lifecycle of AI agents, including m

E2B is a cloud-based infrastructure platform designed to provide secure, isolated execution environments for code and shell commands. It functions as an ephemeral orchestrator that provisions lightweight virtual machines, allowing developers and autonomous agents to run untrusted processes within a sandbox that is completely separated from the host system. The platform distinguishes itself through its focus on programmable, serverless workspaces that support the full lifecycle of cloud-based development. By utilizing hardware-level isolation and snapshot-based resumption, it enables the near-

QuickJS is a lightweight, embeddable ECMAScript runtime that executes JavaScript programs conforming to the latest specification. It is designed as a compact, standards-compliant JavaScript engine suitable for resource-constrained environments and embedded systems, available both as prebuilt binaries and as source code that can be compiled for custom integration. The engine distinguishes itself through a minimal runtime footprint achieved by a single-pass compiler that produces compact bytecode, executed on a stack-based virtual machine. Memory management uses reference-counting garbage colle

wasm-bindgen is a glue code generator and interoperability tool that facilitates high-level communication and data exchange between compiled Rust modules and JavaScript environments. It functions as a memory bridge and type definition generator, allowing the exchange of complex data types and the calling of functions across execution boundaries. The project distinguishes itself by automating the conversion of data types and function signatures using attribute-based bindings. It generates the necessary JavaScript and WebAssembly wrappers to manage linear memory mapping and creates automatic Ty

Eloquent-JavaScript is a comprehensive JavaScript programming textbook and interactive coding tutorial designed for web development education. It serves as both a language reference and a practical guide, combining theoretical lessons with an environment where learners can execute and modify code examples. The project focuses on the fundamental principles of the JavaScript language, including lexical scoping, prototype-based inheritance, and asynchronous patterns. It provides detailed instruction on object-oriented programming, functional programming, and the use of the browser DOM to create

Open Interpreter is an autonomous agent runtime that translates natural language instructions into executable code to interact with local software and operating systems. It functions as an orchestration framework that connects language models to a secure execution environment, enabling the development of agents capable of managing system resources and performing complex tasks. To ensure safety, the system mandates explicit user verification before executing any generated code and provides robust isolation through containerized sandboxing. The project distinguishes itself through its deep inte

Crafting Interpreters is a comprehensive resource for building a complete programming language from scratch. It provides a structured guide to the fundamental components of language implementation, including lexing, parsing, and the design of execution engines. The project demonstrates two distinct approaches to language execution: a tree-walking interpreter that evaluates source code by traversing its abstract syntax structure, and a stack-based virtual machine that compiles code into custom bytecode for execution. These implementations are supported by core runtime mechanisms such as lexica