Corona SDK is an excellent option for any kind of mobile developer from beginner to advanced. This chapter will introduce you to this easy-to-use cross-platform framework and show you how to start creating content for your preferred platform.

The official Corona website describes the SDK as follows:

Corona is a fast and easy development tool for iPhone, iPad and Android games and applications.

Corona-powered apps run at 30 fps in as little as 300k, and the graphics and animation engine fully leverages OpenGL hardware acceleration.

The Corona SDK is the first in Ansca’s Corona family of products for creating high-performance multimedia graphically rich applications and games for the iPhone. With Corona, you can quickly create iPhone applications in a matter of hours. No Objective-C/Cocoa required, and no C++ .”

Ansca is the company behind Corona, and this SDK allows developers to create fast and powerful cross-platform applications that have access to API’s other frameworks don’t, like the camera, GPS and Accelerometer.

Corona SDK offers plenty of features that make it a very reliable way to create applications. Some of these features are:

• Native Application Development: Corona executable binaries are 100% Objective-C/C++, so you won’t have to worry about Apple iOS 5 new rules on using outside development tools. In fact, Corona needs Xcode to compile.
• Automatic OpenGL-ES Integration: No need to call extensive classes or functions to create simple screen manipulations.
• Cross-Platform Development: Corona can create apps for iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) and Android devices.
• Performance: Corona is optimized to make use of hardware-accelerated features, resulting in powerful performance in games and apps.
• Device Features: Access device native controls and hardware, like camera, accelerometer, gps, etc.
• Easy to Learn: Corona uses the Lua programming language, which is powerful and easy to learn.