Complete Noob looking for direction

[appnoob]

What’s up Corona forum… Thought this would be a good place to start my search on what exactly I need to do to build a mobile app.

A little background on me:
I have some html and asp experience but no real schooling in it, just what I’ve taught myself and I know enough to build a website (I have built a few for friends and myself… more as a hobby than anything). All of my work experience in the IT industry is Windows and Cisco based installing network equipment, setting up servers, pulling cable, etc…

Just like any other noob at anything I have plenty of questions…

What is the easiest way to get started in building an app for someone with little to no experience?
Do I need to learn new coding languages C++, Java, etc…?
Should I take a few classes at the local community college?
What is considered a fair rate to pay a developer?
How trust worthy are some of the big box development companies I’ve seen on the net as far as stealing someone’s idea?

If there is anyone on this forum that can answer all or most of my questions I thank you in advance.

[import]uid: 178143 topic_id: 30947 reply_id: 330947[/import]

[peach_pellen]

Corona for Newbies part 1-4 (written by me) are good, gentle introductions - download and open main.lua file in each project and you’ll get a no-experience-expected approach to learning Corona. These are listed on my website, http://Techority.com/ and also on http://learningcorona.com/ which has a bunch of other tutes available as well.

The language Corona uses is Lua so you will need to learn that, however the majority of users (myself included) learn it as they learn how to use the Corona SDK - you don’t need to go out and learn Lua independently of the SDK if you don’t wish to.

You don’t need to take classes either however if they offer one in Lua it certainly wouldn’t hurt.

A “fair” rate is very hard to determine; I charge $60-$75 per hour on freelance gigs but know developers who will go as low as $20 or as high as $120 - it pays to look around a little and get a few quotes.

I can’t really answer the last question as I don’t have personal experience with this, however I’d imagine you’d be safe provided you used a company in a country where any contract you draw up before commencing development would be enforceable.

Welcome to the community!

Peach [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 30947 reply_id: 123776[/import]

[Silky]

Too add on to above…

http://luatut.com/ … For me this was the best source to learn Lua. Straight and to the point.

And another good source are Dr. Rafael Hernandezs (cheetomoskeeto channel) Youtube videos. He has a lot of cool in-depth tutorials.

[import]uid: 114389 topic_id: 30947 reply_id: 123779[/import]

[appnoob]

Thanks for the quick replies and all the info… This might be a stupid question, once I build an app in Corona will I be able to export, so to speak, to be functional on multiple platforms? [import]uid: 178143 topic_id: 30947 reply_id: 123781[/import]

[peach_pellen]

With Corona Indie you can choose to build for iOS *or* Android, with Pro you can build for iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, Nook, etc.

This is with only *one* set of code, unless you want to use a special feature like Game Center which is only available on iOS, so you’d just pull that out on Android. (Or write your code to not include it if not on Apple device, either way.)

Any other questions or if I’m not being clear enough feel free to ask [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 30947 reply_id: 123849[/import]

[peach_pellen]

Corona for Newbies part 1-4 (written by me) are good, gentle introductions - download and open main.lua file in each project and you’ll get a no-experience-expected approach to learning Corona. These are listed on my website, http://Techority.com/ and also on http://learningcorona.com/ which has a bunch of other tutes available as well.

The language Corona uses is Lua so you will need to learn that, however the majority of users (myself included) learn it as they learn how to use the Corona SDK - you don’t need to go out and learn Lua independently of the SDK if you don’t wish to.

You don’t need to take classes either however if they offer one in Lua it certainly wouldn’t hurt.

A “fair” rate is very hard to determine; I charge $60-$75 per hour on freelance gigs but know developers who will go as low as $20 or as high as $120 - it pays to look around a little and get a few quotes.

I can’t really answer the last question as I don’t have personal experience with this, however I’d imagine you’d be safe provided you used a company in a country where any contract you draw up before commencing development would be enforceable.

Welcome to the community!

Peach [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 30947 reply_id: 123776[/import]

[Silky]

Too add on to above…

http://luatut.com/ … For me this was the best source to learn Lua. Straight and to the point.

And another good source are Dr. Rafael Hernandezs (cheetomoskeeto channel) Youtube videos. He has a lot of cool in-depth tutorials.

[import]uid: 114389 topic_id: 30947 reply_id: 123779[/import]

[appnoob]

Thanks for the quick replies and all the info… This might be a stupid question, once I build an app in Corona will I be able to export, so to speak, to be functional on multiple platforms? [import]uid: 178143 topic_id: 30947 reply_id: 123781[/import]

[appnoob]

So I’ve spent the last two hours looking for a straight answer on this… lol

I want to build an app that needs to connect to a database and display the data within that database.

I’ve read a little bit on using a web service, how does that work? Is it the most efficient? How secure is it?
Something kind of like Gas Buddy’s app…

thanks again Peach and thanks for the tutrials [import]uid: 178143 topic_id: 30947 reply_id: 124264[/import]

[peach_pellen]

With Corona Indie you can choose to build for iOS *or* Android, with Pro you can build for iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, Nook, etc.

This is with only *one* set of code, unless you want to use a special feature like Game Center which is only available on iOS, so you’d just pull that out on Android. (Or write your code to not include it if not on Apple device, either way.)

Any other questions or if I’m not being clear enough feel free to ask [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 30947 reply_id: 123849[/import]

[peach_pellen]

Take a look at Rob Miracle’s post (and link) here; http://developer.coronalabs.com/forum/2012/07/04/can-corona-communicate-directly-network-sqlite-database

Peach [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 30947 reply_id: 124475[/import]

[appnoob]

So I’ve spent the last two hours looking for a straight answer on this… lol

I want to build an app that needs to connect to a database and display the data within that database.

I’ve read a little bit on using a web service, how does that work? Is it the most efficient? How secure is it?
Something kind of like Gas Buddy’s app…

thanks again Peach and thanks for the tutrials [import]uid: 178143 topic_id: 30947 reply_id: 124264[/import]

[peach_pellen]

Take a look at Rob Miracle’s post (and link) here; http://developer.coronalabs.com/forum/2012/07/04/can-corona-communicate-directly-network-sqlite-database

Peach [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 30947 reply_id: 124475[/import]