From the Forum — Issue #58

06 February 2015

From the Forum — Issue #58

Welcome to the latest installment of From the Forum. In this series, guest blogger Alex Jackson highlights outstanding threads from the Corona Forum. The goal is to bring attention to the most captivating, interesting, and thought-provoking discussions taking place in our very own backyard.

Please visit the forum to join these conversations or start your own!

1. For all the Android developers out there…

When those of us who develop for Android go through our normal build test steps, we’re told not to simply install the APK from the device’s local storage. While this can work in some cases, it’s not an ideal process to build, drag and drop, and then install from your mobile device.

That’s why using the adb tools optimizes this process considerably. Specifically, a Corona developer can use one very useful command from abd to install a ready-built APK onto a prospective test device without going through all those steps above. Check it out at the original post below!

http://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/54107-is-there-a-way-to-launch-app-on-device-fast/

2. A drop-down for all seasons.

Having additional widgets and UI options never hurts when we’re trying to make a splash in the mobile arena. Every time I see a nice module that I think would help the Corona community increase productivity, you can be sure I’m going to include it in a FtF, and this week is no different.

I am guilty of duplicating menu system functionality from project to project, when I could easily modularize and re-use the same code. Fortunately, you can learn from my mistakes! Corona developer phpedinei posted about his own drop-down menu module, and provided the github link so we could all use and improve it as we see fit. Check it out at the original post below, and don’t forget to say thanks.

http://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/54347-simple-dropdown-menu-list/

3. Some tips on metatables.

I’ve posted about tips for using and understanding metatables before, and how they can be very tricky wickets. They are powerful when applied correctly, time-saving when used appropriately, and absolutely impossible to wrap your head around when first starting out with Lua development.

However, I never want to skip passing on a pointer for metatable use whenever I come across one. The original thread below discusses what references to use and when to declare your metatable class (as a module? as a scene-specific instance?) which are both important factors to consider when coding up your own Lua metatables. Head over to the link and see for yourself.

http://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/54257-method-and-properties-inheritance-in-lua/

About Alex

Alex Jackson is an indie developer and the founder of Panc Software, specializing in retro-style gaming. He has created several mobile applications, enjoys long walks on the beach, pixel art, and reading the Corona forums. Contact him by email or follow him on Twitter: @pancsoftware. Check out his new game Crosstown Smash on iOS, Android, and Amazon devices!