Request for Info: Right Fit, First Steps

Getting Started Newbie Questions
#1

Hi All - I have 1 app on itunes where I outsourced the development; now I would now like to learn to develop apps myself. I’m totally new to programming (except for COBOL about 20 years ago) and no experience with app dev frameworks or engines. My initial focus will be on games for kids via iOS. A couple questions:

  1. Is Corona a good choice for such a newbie as myself, or do I need to start with learning Objective C; or alternatively start with a more basic framework/engine like Gamesalad? Should I consider the framework that starts with a G* or the one that starts with an M*?

  2. If Corona, then where do I begin? I do see all the tutorials and the manuals, that’s great; question is… Do I first need to learn Lua or at least become familiar with it, or just jump right into learning Corona directly? Also, similar to the above question, do I need to know any Objective C?

  3. Any recommendations on audio or video tutorials? I have a 1 hour commute each way for my day job so would like to spend those 2 hours/day listening and learning on how to use Corona (and/or Lua). I do see the tutorials from the first sticky link but some are rather old, so want to make sure I’m reviewing the most up to date and comprehensive available.

Thanks in advance for your help.

-W [import]uid: 198642 topic_id: 33285 reply_id: 333285[/import]

#2

Hey, @william15, I was new to programming when I picked up Corona SDK last year, and I do not know Objective C. I don’t think you need to start with Gamesalad. I’m not sure what you mean by G* and M*, so hopefully someone else familiar with what it means can share his/her thoughts on it.

About where I began, I bought a book called “Programming in Lua”, 2nd edition, by Roberto Ierusalimschy, but I couldn’t really power through the book. I think it was mainly because a lot of the terminologies used in the book were alien to me (plus I hardly had any basic framework to understand, especially since my native, formal education was done in Japanese, and I never took any math or science courses in English.) So what I did was just jump in (if I didn’t, I probably could not have persevered.) I did my best to power through the Corona’s online documentation, fool edaround with the sample code that come bundled with the SDK, and kept looking around this Forum, learning bits here and there (and I still do) – plus, there’s this treasure trove of code in Code Exchange.

About audio/video tutorials, I haven’t done any, but I’m sure there are many that the others can recommend.

Anyhow, good luck!

Naomi
[import]uid: 67217 topic_id: 33285 reply_id: 132247[/import]

#3

@william15,

  1. Yes, Corona is a great place to start.

  2. I would take some time to learn the fundamentals of the Lua language. Then I would move onto basic usage of Corona. CoronaLabs has a good page that will help with that here: http://www.coronalabs.com/resources/tutorials/

  3. As far as other tutorials, there are lots. This page has a good listing: http://learningcorona.com/
    [import]uid: 110228 topic_id: 33285 reply_id: 132249[/import]

#4

Hey, @william15, I was new to programming when I picked up Corona SDK last year, and I do not know Objective C. I don’t think you need to start with Gamesalad. I’m not sure what you mean by G* and M*, so hopefully someone else familiar with what it means can share his/her thoughts on it.

About where I began, I bought a book called “Programming in Lua”, 2nd edition, by Roberto Ierusalimschy, but I couldn’t really power through the book. I think it was mainly because a lot of the terminologies used in the book were alien to me (plus I hardly had any basic framework to understand, especially since my native, formal education was done in Japanese, and I never took any math or science courses in English.) So what I did was just jump in (if I didn’t, I probably could not have persevered.) I did my best to power through the Corona’s online documentation, fool edaround with the sample code that come bundled with the SDK, and kept looking around this Forum, learning bits here and there (and I still do) – plus, there’s this treasure trove of code in Code Exchange.

About audio/video tutorials, I haven’t done any, but I’m sure there are many that the others can recommend.

Anyhow, good luck!

Naomi
[import]uid: 67217 topic_id: 33285 reply_id: 132247[/import]

#5

@william15,

  1. Yes, Corona is a great place to start.

  2. I would take some time to learn the fundamentals of the Lua language. Then I would move onto basic usage of Corona. CoronaLabs has a good page that will help with that here: http://www.coronalabs.com/resources/tutorials/

  3. As far as other tutorials, there are lots. This page has a good listing: http://learningcorona.com/
    [import]uid: 110228 topic_id: 33285 reply_id: 132249[/import]

#6

Hey, just to chime in here - you’re totally free to mention the fact you are considering Moai and/or Gideros as well as Corona.

Corona is great for this as mentioned above. It is significantly easier than Moai and somewhat easier than Gideros.

No obj-C required. Learningcorona.com as others have suggested already is a fantastic place to start. Corona For Newbies Parts 1 - 4 are also very useful. (I wrote them for Techority and they have excellent feedback. Aimed at non-coders.)

Peach :slight_smile: [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 33285 reply_id: 132521[/import]

#7

Hey, just to chime in here - you’re totally free to mention the fact you are considering Moai and/or Gideros as well as Corona.

Corona is great for this as mentioned above. It is significantly easier than Moai and somewhat easier than Gideros.

No obj-C required. Learningcorona.com as others have suggested already is a fantastic place to start. Corona For Newbies Parts 1 - 4 are also very useful. (I wrote them for Techority and they have excellent feedback. Aimed at non-coders.)

Peach :slight_smile: [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 33285 reply_id: 132521[/import]