Corona Pro Plugins

Solar2D Native builds
#81

As an enterprise user, I can say with confidence that I believe there is enough documentation and sample code to go on. The only thing that differs from pure native development and corona enterprise is the Lua C api and using corona’s classes and view controllers. That is documented online in good measure and the other things I mentioned are documented enough (and have sufficient samples) to work off.

The problem is that when someone wants to implement “x” and there is no example of how one should integrate that with the Lua Api and working with Corona’s enterprise apis, it may seem a little confusing. The learning curve isn’t that high in my opinion and once you have cranked out your first plugin, you will never look back.

Just my 2¢ on the matter :slight_smile:

#82

I also believe that Enterprise is achievable to developers who have previously feared venturing down that path, and you can start with our two new quickstart tutorials:

iOS: http://coronalabs.com/blog/2014/03/18/tutorial-corona-enterprise-quickstart-ios/

Android: http://coronalabs.com/blog/2014/04/01/tutorial-corona-enterprise-quickstart-android/

While Rob is the listed author of both, I worked directly alongside him to fine-tune these tutorials, test the code, and get both projects fully working on my side (tested and running on my devices). Since I’m not a “native developer” with many years of native coding under my belt, I feel that this is a small feather in my cap, and in the end it wasn’t that difficult. Yes, there are some complicated aspects. Yes, there are some settings that don’t make much sense initially. But by the end, I was able to get working projects in place and see how the native side interacts with the Corona side.

Brent

#83

Ok. I’ll bite… Here’s an idea David…

Grant free license upgrades to your Pro customers so that they can use Enterprise with the purpose of running other dev’s plugins. This could be a one time deal until you get the Plugins Market running. This would basically deliver the ability CL promised Pro license holders more than a year ago… How does it sound?

#84

Actually I think that not enough kudos have been wafted your way, Brent and Rob, for those great tutorials. Gave me a boost for sure in plugin development. Very helpful, thanks!

One thing that surprised me in Android development is that Android Studio wasn’t very helpful, and the tutorial recommended simply using a text editor and command line development to get the Android code to compile. I used A.S. for my PhoneGap project with no issues, so that was bad :frowning:

For the marketplace, of course a +1. :slight_smile:

best,

Jen

#85

Thank you Jen. 

Regarding Android Studio, when I started working on the Android version, I wanted to use Eclipse, but I found the interface confusing.  Once I got a taste of Android Studio, I liked it much better.  Taking Corona SDK out of equation, I think Eclipse’s layout tools may be a little better, but I found Android Studio overall to be a much friendlier to someone not that familiar with Android native development.

So why did I go call command line on you?  Given the samples, existing  project templates, it was easier to learn the command line commands than it was to figure out what all things I needed to add into the GUI environments to make their Android native apps work with Corona’s libraries. 

At some point, I want to come back and offer a tutorial on doing this with Android Studio, but I don’t know when I can get to it.

Rob

#86

Any updates?

#87

+1 over here too. I am a native Android developer too, and I know the power of Corona in cutting down coding time. Really looking forward to the market.

Currently looking for a plugin to add/edit events in Calendar. 

#88

Hi guys. This is still important for us, but lots of other stuff going on that is high priority as well. But it’s our goal to have a plugin marketplace as soon as possible.

#89

Hi David, great to hear the commitment is still there. As for the prioritization, I bet most of us (customers) would prioritize the Plug-in Market over a number of things that Corona Labs delivered over the last year. I think there is a strong disconnect between what is prioritized by Corona Labs and what the customer base actually needs. It would be wonderful if you were to run an open survey to get this feedback on an ongoing basis and at least make an effort to align. Thank you. 

#90

Case in point… Bam! Corona Cards…

#91

I knew you would be all over this ksan :slight_smile:

#92

Perhaps I should be happy. Now I can use Xamarin, which has an excellent Plug-in Market and yet keep leveraging my couple years worth of Corona SDK experience. Hmmm, I think you just made it easier for your customers to jump ship. Think about it.  :wink:

#93

If you are better suited to use another tool, but can somehow keep on using Corona, I’m happy :slight_smile:

#94

If Corona Labs simply delivered the Plug-in Market I would not even need to be looking at other tools.

The reason why the Plug-In Market is so crucial is that, if it existed, it would allow 3rd parties to extend Corona SDK and/or offer paid services to deliver things like stable widgets, native UI elements, Bluetooth integration etc etc. The list is endless. This would make Corona SDK the be it all, do it all tool for me and many alike.

Core Corona SDK is excellent and we are all happy with it and hence why we stick around. We just need it to be more extensible. Please serve our needs first before going on new adventures, over and over. Thanks for listening to your [current] customers.

#95

I guess Corona Cards was the secret front burner project.  It could be a way for CL to make new customers out of native developers who have never used Corona, though I suspect most of the devs it will entice are current Corona users who are also experienced native developers, and perhaps former Corona users who jumped ship due to the SDKs limitations.  But those are small pools of potential customers for this new product.  For people like me, who develop only in Corona and don’t (or can’t) develop natively, Corona Cards doesn’t appear to provide anything I can use.

The plugin marketplace, on the other hand, promises to bring much new and needed functionality to CoronaSDK over what I and CL are capable of delivering.  From my perspective this would improve the quality and functionality of the SDK, would free up CLs’ developers to focus more on core functionality and bug fixing which would, again, improve the quality of Corona SDK and thus drive more developers to consider using CoronaSDK in the first place.  CL would also retain more existing customers who would otherwise jump ship, and could also stand to gain new Enterprise customers who would be interested in putting their expertise to work selling plugins to people like me.  Win-win-win.

#96

^^^ Very well articulated. I’m in exactly the same boat as yourself.

If I could code native I would go full on native. Yet I have needs which CL will take years if ever to get to. For example, I would love a better mapView and I would not mind paying a dev who could make a plugin encapsulating more features from the underlying native map API (ie buttons on map marker bubbles etc). 

#97

I started using Unity because of the lack of marketplace and the fact every project runs into a dead end with some third party service not supported or not supported fully.  It was overwhelming at first, but now it feels like Unity is actually easier than Corona and their marketplace is off the hook. 

From what I heard, the person who does plugins for Corona has left.  Corona Editor has already been near abandoned (hasn’t been touched in over 3 months) which is a shame as I was a part of getting this built.  Corona is not building third party plugins as they only want vendors to do them themselves.  Unfortunately the few that do step up and do this, later abandon the project and the plugin eventually will break or be no longer supported.

#98

I’m actively working on a few plugins with this, and I’m still hoping for a marketplace. Earnestly hoping you guys (Walter and David) are still engaged on that project. 

best,

Jen

#99

cspence - I have a few quibbles with what you wrote. So I just want to point them out  :)

  1. “No more features for Corona Editor” is a clear example of a lose-lose situation for us. When we put it out, a number of people here said it was unnecessary and a waste of time (and many others liked it of course).

Now, we get some grief because we haven’t kept on building it out (when it is already at a very reasonable v1 and good enough for now). 

  1. There have been a handful of plugins that are perhaps not being supported (I have yet to verify that), but the key ones (ad network and monetization) are definitely being supported. And more are coming. This is another example of a lose-lose situation for us: we are asked for many plugins, yet when a 3rd party decides to change what they are doing, it reflects badly on us.

  2. We are asked to focus on the core features of Corona, yet you also suggest we should be building plugins ourselves for 3rd party services. I can tell you that this would be very difficult to keep up and a nightmare in terms of maintenance. The only way to do this correctly is by involving the 3rd party (as we have done) or via a marketplace.

Which leads me to the plugin marketplace everyone has mentioned. Let me be clear: we wholeheartedly agree. A plugin marketplace would be a great thing and we want to do it as soon as is possible. But it’s not a trivial thing to implement, and spending time on it will detract from other areas. 

So let me summarize:

  • some of you want a plugin marketplace asap

  • you also want fixes/new features to the core of the platform

  • you also want as many plugins as possible

  • you also want as many platforms as possible (e.g., Windows)

  • you also *don’t* want to use Corona Enterprise to do your own plugins/extensions

It’s a bit of a tough situation :slight_smile:

So let me be VERY clear: I agree with you. I also want all these things. And we are trying to do as much as possible, prioritizing as best we can.

Keep on asking us for things. We think that’s a good thing.

I just want you guys to be aware of the situation and the different demands from different people in the community. That’s all.

#100

While we’re making wish lists, I also want a Prada handbag, can you help me with that? And a pony. 

Just kidding.

Actually, I’m trying hard to use my shiny Enterprise license to make plugins. But two issues…the documentation is really, really lacking, sadly, so I am obliged to pay for training elsewhere to create anything. And the plugins that I propose to develop I would like to monetize, not just use for myself, so we need … that … marketplace. Like yesterday.

It’s a question of priorities, really. Can you give us a rough idea of what we can expect in terms of roadmap, so I can synch my own development schedule?

:slight_smile:
best,

Jen