dafeeeeeeeeeesh By last I thought he meant "latest", so perhaps that is my bad.
As for lancer weapons, (specifically the turreted triple lancer), less space is needed in comparison to the large macro-cannon battery both because it is a smaller weapon and does not need as much "support infrastructure", mainly ammo factories.
Cannons like the smaller macro-repeater battery are very ammo hungry, and my experience needed about 4 factories per cannon to keep up with the demand. They are still cheaper all together (60,000 for the cannon plus 28,000 for 4 factories vs. 300,000 per triple lancer plus at least 25,000 for a reactor), and their ability to pierce weakened shields and pierce into enemy ships while causing fires makes them very powerful weapon that is hard to compete against.
Overall I agree that cannons are a bit more "flexible", as they aren't any worse at dealing with the powerful shields in the mod (in fact, since they can pierce, they seem to be a bit better), while also being far more adept and destroying the innards of the ship far faster and more efficiently than the lancer weapons, generally speaking.