I’m obviously a big fan of the Corona SDK. Thus far it’s the tool I’ve used to create all my apps. CoronaLabs’ easy-to-use software and API libraries, combined with the not-so-steep learning curve of the Lua programming language make it less daunting for new developers to jump into the game without sacrificing much flexibility (now for free!). Additionally, the SDK’s online user community has rightfully earned a reputation for being a helpful and involved bunch—even the trolls on the Corona Forums are sort of lovable in their own way. (Alex M., someday we’ll make you smile!)

In the last year, it’s been interesting to see the Corona community grow from a grassroots-style collection of independent developers communicating on forums into more of a cottage industry: there’s now a weekly podcast (CoronaGeek), occasional Corona-only Game Jams (like the upcoming 48-hour GIG Jam) and even a glossy monthly magazine, CoronaPaper.

On more than one occasion, CoronaPaper has ended interviews with developers by asking them to answer an old riddle with a Corona twist: How would they get an elephant into a refrigerator using Corona and Lua? Now I’m still a small fry in the app development game, and unlikely to get interviewed by a magazine—even though CoronaLabs recently declared me one of the three Most Interesting Developers in the Universe—but that didn’t stop me from coming up with my very own answer to this question.

And without any further ado, I’m pleased to present Operation Dumbo (temperature) Drop!

local function DumboTempDrop()
   for i = #animalCrackersBox, 1, -1 do
      local cracker = animalCrackersBox[i]
      if cracker.shape=="bear" then
         mouth:chomp(cracker) -- bears were always my favorite
      elseif cracker.shape=="elephant" then
         table.remove(animalCrackersBox, i)
         refrigerator:insert(cracker)
         timer.performWithDelay(3600000, eatFridgeCrackers) -- we'll eat in an hour!
      end
   end
end

So, dear readers: how would YOU get an elephant into a refrigerator using Corona and Lua?

With this weekend’s brisk temperatures, it seems possible that “sweater weather” has finally – FINALLY! – descended upon New York City (knock on wood), and I’m looking forward to what I hope will be a very productive few months on the app development front. I’ve got one client booked and have begun working on what I think will be a pretty cool app. I’m keeping the details on that project scant for the time being, but I will say that my client is a successful small business looking to engage more directly with its customers and grow the brand, and I think the app will help achieve both those goals. I’ve also been in discussion with a few arts-based organizations and hope to unveil one or more visual art apps in the near future.

I also want to take this new season as an opportunity to give credit to Ansca Mobile and their fantastic Corona SDK, without which I wouldn’t be building apps at all. They have managed to create an easy-to-use, quick-to-learn development environment that opens doors for people like myself, and I’m pleased to see all the success they have been achieving in recent months – including last week’s announcement that they have been selected as one of FASTech’s 50 most innovative startups for 2011. I had a great meeting recently with a gentleman who has been successfully developing iOS apps using Xcode and Objective-C, but who is looking to add Corona to his digital toolkit. This is a guy who already knows how to make apps the “old-fashioned way,” but who can see that Corona has a bright future and is looking to take advantage of its rapid development cycle – it’s a real testament to Ansca’s growing influence that it is drawing attention from successful app studios. And despite Ansca’s rapid growth, they still take time to support little guys like me. (Only last week I had a helpful email exchange with Ansca CEO Carlos Icaza.) Keep it up, guys!

Wow, this is the first post I’ve written in months. Here’s hoping that this autumn will see new apps, new partnerships, and so much news that I’ll be forced to keep writing here on the site. Thanks for reading, and happy fall!