# terralang/terra

Terra is a low-level system programming language that is embedded in and meta-programmed by the Lua programming language.

Repository: https://github.com/terralang/terra
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/terra
Language: C++
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-19T04:15:47+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 98/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 98, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5091, "days_push": 14, "days_rel": 19, "gap_med": 13, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2906, forks 210 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:29.071250+00:00)

## What it is
Terra is a low-level system programming language that is embedded in and meta-programmed by the Lua programming language. It allows Lua code to generate, compile, and run Terra code at runtime, combining high-level metaprogramming with C-like performance.

## Use cases
- write high-performance system code with Lua metaprogramming
- generate low-level kernels at runtime from Lua
- build DSLs that compile to fast native code
- prototype systems programming concepts interactively
- replace C code generation pipelines with a real language

## When to choose
- you want Lua-driven metaprogramming with native performance
- you need runtime code generation for kernels or libraries
- you want a C-like language embedded in a scripting host

## When to avoid
- you need a mainstream language with a large ecosystem
- you want a standalone compiler independent of Lua
- your team has no Lua experience

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: programming-language, compiler, interpreter
- domain: programming-languages, compilers, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cpp, lua
- tags: system-programming, metaprogramming, embedded-language, lua, low-level, jit, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- terralang/terra (main) score 98

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:29.071250+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:34:30.019633+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/terralang/terra (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:29.071250+00:00, sha a059b858614e)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.