Lua as my first language

[carteralanjarrett]

I have zero programming experience whatsoever. 

I want to start with something fun. Lua seems like that. I’m choosing Lua because using it will probably keep more motivated to keep self-teaching, as opposed to another language that’s not really related to game development, or at least not with as strong of ties to it as Lua has. Anywho, I digress. 

I’ve searched on the forums and can’t seem to find a post that’s similar. Most are starting points for programmers unfamiliar with Lua. I’m unfamiliar with programming AND Lua. So where should I start? 

I’ve seen the resources thread, but what I’m weary on is if it’s for complete beginners (assuming it’s not from what I’ve read). 

I could be entirely wrong about every assumption I’ve made, and if I have, please thump me in the head and point me in the correct direction. I’m really wanting to do something technical but I just can’t find something to motivate myself and have no clue where to go. Oklahoma isn’t exactly the mecca of programmers. My university offers ONE game development class and it’s almost a joke. It teaches nothing actually about game design and development. It’s an even cruder form of paint by numbers. No art, no creativity. That’s ok, it’s just not something I want to pay for when I feel this community has just as much to offer  

-Carter 

[Develephant]

Where are you in OK?  I’ve been thinking about starting up a Corona meet-up locally.

Cheers.

[xnailbender]

I started with “0” programming experience in any language about 2 years ago, I’m still a newb.

My take is programming IS the ultimate game/puzzle.

Corona and Lua are the tools, but it’s up to you to figure it out and make it work.

I think it was Jay @ Game Dev Nation that did a short example of the classic Simon game.  I looked it over for a couple of hours with glazed eyes in an attempt to figure out how it worked, with a couple lines of code I was able to extend the game 1 more note on each successful turn.  I was hooked.

Getting a grasp of working with Lua tables was probably the biggest breakthroughs to unlocking the power of Lua.  You don’t have to have any graphics or sound, all of your work is displayed with print statements in the terminal.  Focusing on “for” and “if” statements with iterations combined with table creation, manipulation, and saving could keep a newb busy for months without even starting to use Corona to place objects and sounds on the display screen. 

It’s funny, I’ve always found it easy to create display objects, it seems the more tedious work is removing them from the display and memory.

There is a wealth of example code, knowledge and insights buried in these forums, no College course could even come close to covering what is here.  It’s really up to you to find the pieces you need and put them together properly.

Best of Luck!

Nail

[Caleb_P]

Read the sample code, lurk around in the forums, write simple apps (don’t get in over your head - I did when I was starting), and voila! - that’s how I learned

Seriously, though - programming has been one of the greatest experiences in my life… I wanted to program ever since I first played Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (greatest game EVER). I started learning with Corona (had a number of bumps and frustration), taught myself, and now here I am

• Caleb

[piotrz55]

Below I just express my opinion only for purpose of sharing - if Lua is good for you (because Corona uses it) then keep with it.

---

I value Lua as a language just because Corona and other SDKs use it - creators made it in such way that just few lines of code makes wonders. But remember Lua is just the tool.

However, it is my personal opinion, I think that in longer go Lua isn’t the best for first language (not speaking in general case). It is because of free manipulation which Lua allows. It doesn’t create extensively proper habits if you learn it as first and because of its free structure it can easily becomes ‘spaghetti’.

I have tried different languages myself begining with C/C++ and I must say that this 2 languages where really the best point I could start with.

[rob]

I was more self-taught with a couple mentors back in college, then I started taking my college classes and for me the rest is history.

But in my days of working with people learning programming, I’ve discovered that different people learn programming differently. Some people need to have the structure of a course to learn.  Some people can pick up a book and go.  Some people can start with tutorials and go from there or take a part sample programs and learn through modifying them.   Or you may learn through a combination of these.

You should probably start at the Corona University:  http://www.coronalabs.com/resources/tutorials/getting-started-with-corona/

You could also check out some books written for Corona.  Dr. Bryan Burton, Michelle Fernandez and others have written some good books and we have them linked here:  http://www.coronalabs.com/resources/books/

[Develephant]

Where are you in OK?  I’ve been thinking about starting up a Corona meet-up locally.

Cheers.

[xnailbender]

I started with “0” programming experience in any language about 2 years ago, I’m still a newb.

My take is programming IS the ultimate game/puzzle.

Corona and Lua are the tools, but it’s up to you to figure it out and make it work.

I think it was Jay @ Game Dev Nation that did a short example of the classic Simon game.  I looked it over for a couple of hours with glazed eyes in an attempt to figure out how it worked, with a couple lines of code I was able to extend the game 1 more note on each successful turn.  I was hooked.

Getting a grasp of working with Lua tables was probably the biggest breakthroughs to unlocking the power of Lua.  You don’t have to have any graphics or sound, all of your work is displayed with print statements in the terminal.  Focusing on “for” and “if” statements with iterations combined with table creation, manipulation, and saving could keep a newb busy for months without even starting to use Corona to place objects and sounds on the display screen. 

It’s funny, I’ve always found it easy to create display objects, it seems the more tedious work is removing them from the display and memory.

There is a wealth of example code, knowledge and insights buried in these forums, no College course could even come close to covering what is here.  It’s really up to you to find the pieces you need and put them together properly.

Best of Luck!

Nail

[Caleb_P]

Read the sample code, lurk around in the forums, write simple apps (don’t get in over your head - I did when I was starting), and voila! - that’s how I learned

Seriously, though - programming has been one of the greatest experiences in my life… I wanted to program ever since I first played Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (greatest game EVER). I started learning with Corona (had a number of bumps and frustration), taught myself, and now here I am

• Caleb

[piotrz55]

Below I just express my opinion only for purpose of sharing - if Lua is good for you (because Corona uses it) then keep with it.

---

I value Lua as a language just because Corona and other SDKs use it - creators made it in such way that just few lines of code makes wonders. But remember Lua is just the tool.

However, it is my personal opinion, I think that in longer go Lua isn’t the best for first language (not speaking in general case). It is because of free manipulation which Lua allows. It doesn’t create extensively proper habits if you learn it as first and because of its free structure it can easily becomes ‘spaghetti’.

I have tried different languages myself begining with C/C++ and I must say that this 2 languages where really the best point I could start with.

[rob]

I was more self-taught with a couple mentors back in college, then I started taking my college classes and for me the rest is history.

But in my days of working with people learning programming, I’ve discovered that different people learn programming differently. Some people need to have the structure of a course to learn.  Some people can pick up a book and go.  Some people can start with tutorials and go from there or take a part sample programs and learn through modifying them.   Or you may learn through a combination of these.

You should probably start at the Corona University:  http://www.coronalabs.com/resources/tutorials/getting-started-with-corona/

You could also check out some books written for Corona.  Dr. Bryan Burton, Michelle Fernandez and others have written some good books and we have them linked here:  http://www.coronalabs.com/resources/books/