Learn Corona

The following resources can help you learn Corona, explore a specific topic,
or discover convenient and fun ways to accomplish what your game demands.
Whether you’re new to Corona or a veteran developer, our learning resources have you covered!

Getting started

Get up to speed quickly with our chapter-by-chapter Getting started guide.

Developer guides

These are current guides on selected topics.

API ref.

Over 1000 APIs enable you to transform your ideas into app experiences.

Plugins

Corona plugins give access to additional functionality and 3rd party services.

Books

Corona App Development eBooks published by Burtons Media Group.

Corona tutorials

These categories cover the essential aspects of Corona. Each category contains detailed guides, tutorials, video lessons, and relevant 3rd-party resources when available. You can also view our API Reference or seek assistance in the forum.

Goodbye globals!

Some Lua programmers rely on global variables for convenience, but it’s best to avoid them whenever possible. This tutorial outlines the risk of global variables and provides a convenient method to eliminate them from your program.

Basics / globals

#android #ios

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Basic Object Spawning

In game design, a common element is object spawning, whether it be spawning a variable number of enemies and placing them randomly about the screen, or spawning items repeatedly on a timer increment. This tutorial covers the basics.

Basics

#android #ios #plugin

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Scope for beginners

In Lua, scope is a fundamental aspect of functional code. If you're new to Lua, please read onward to understand scope and learn some techniques for handling it properly.

Basics / scope

#android #ios #plugin #self-hosted

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Value of well-formatted code

Well-formatted code is a major aspect of how successful you’ll be as a programmer. In this tutorial, discover some simple ways to make your code cleaner and more readable.

Basics / code formating

#android #ios #plugin

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Corona really free?

Yes — the core Corona framework is completely free, including Corona Native which can be used to extend Corona with native languages (C/C++/Obj-C/Java). There are no restrictions on which stores you can build for. Additionally, we offer a selection of plugins which allow you to easily extend the functionality of Corona; most of these are free, but some premium plugins must be purchased. Finally, the Corona Marketplace offers over 100 additional third-party plugins; many are free, while others are priced according to the vendors who maintain them.

 

Note — Apple, Google, and Amazon require that you join their respective developer programs to deploy apps in their marketplace(s). These programs have associated fees which you are responsible for.

What platforms does Corona run on?

The base Corona framework is available for macOS and Windows. Corona Native is currently only available for macOS.

 

Note — Because of Apple restrictions, you cannot build apps for iOS, macOS, or tvOS using the Windows version of Corona. However, you can use the same Lua code written on a Windows machine and build apps using a Mac if you want to target Apple platforms.

What platforms can I build apps for?

Corona currently supports building apps for the following platforms:

  • iOS
  • Android
  • Amazon Kindle
  • Windows desktop
  • macOS desktop
  • Apple TV
  • Android TV
  • Steam

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