Mixing Lua code with C code in an API

Question

I'm creating a Lua API for my application for quick, data-driven design and moddability. It follows this module/submodule hierarchy:

core
 -> audio
 -> network
 -> video
 -> etc.

The library should be implemented in a file per submodule (as well as a file for the top-level core functions), and some functions may also be implemented in C.

What's the best way to organize this?

Answer 1

Well, one way would be to treat the components as separate libraries, and just pull them into core object in Lua. Implement audio , network etc. as standalone components, and make core along the lines of

-- core.lua

core = {
    audio = require "audio",
    network = require "network",
    ...
}
return core

This should work well enough and that "module reexport pattern" is something I've seen in many languages, so I guess it should work alright.

Mixing C and Lua implementation for one module is something that should be easily google'able, in general.