[Disclaimer: This blog has no intentions to be a definitive opinion on Lua or Corona development. It is just an opinion, under the perspective of a non-professional developer, working for the first time with both technologies. If you find anything wrong with the expressed opinions, please feel free to comment and I will revise the text.]
Few minutes ago I upload my app for Apple appreciation. I hope to see it published at the App Store in the next days.
Final interface.
Now, that this is finished, a final report on the application and Corona.
The Good
Ansca Mobile’s Corona is an infant SDK with lots of potential. It is much easier to code in Lua (interpreted language) than Object-C, or even Javascript (again, this is a personal opinion, based in my personal experiences).
Corona’s team are great people (have you ever received an email from a company’s CEO, trying to help you to solve problems? Yes, Carlos Icaza sent an email asking me if he could call my cell phone!), and they are working hard to have a great product.
Beta 2 has been updated every week, bring not only new features, as well as solving past issues. I am really excited to check the new Game Edition.
The samples they provide are also an excellent help to speed up your coding.
The Bad
Although Corona has been updated constantly, it does not have all the features the full SDK offers, meaning you cannot develop some apps like the ones you get from the App Store. Also, the current Corona SDK has much more potential for games than applications.
Specifically about A Temple A Day, I had to cut down several originally planned features, due the lack of some controls (mostly table view and asynchronous http request, for example). Fortunately, I could change my original idea to something doable but, consequently, I had to price down it.
Conclusions
If I had to develop a “regular” application again (and I plan to do it in a near future), I would probably spend more time with Appcelerator Titanium, instead of Corona. They are ahead in native controls. Unfortunately, I couldn’t “click” yet with their development tools and samples. Again, this is personal. I am waiting for the book they are writing about Ti.
Although, as of today, Corona is not that ready for apps in general, I am enjoying a lot to learn Lua, sharing experiences with the community in the forums, and planning my first game. The SDK may not be that strong for reference applications but, it really rocks when game is the main subject. As I mentioned above, I am looking forward for the Game Edition they are building at this moment.
If game is your “thing”, Corona is ready for you. Don’t wait and buy it with the special introductory price of $99, getting the Game Edition in this price. If you want to code apps with native controls, wait a little more or try other SDKs like Titanium or PhoneGap.
Myself, I will stick with Corona, keeping a closer look at Titanium progresses.
To the next app!
Alex