With the release of Universal coming soon, we are interested to know why did you buy Codea, and did you discover it?
If you are interested in sharing your experiences we are very keen to find out.
I’m asking this because we typically don’t pay for ads or run big marketing campaigns and knowing how our users discover Codea will potentially help us reach more users in the future.
Thank you!
Why did I buy Codea? I enjoy programming as a hobby and liked the idea of being able to program directly on the iPad. I loved the immediacy and speed of the results. For me a big plus point for getting into it was to be able to see simple concepts being translated into code quickly (for example being able to drag an ellipse around the screen with your finger). For me the demo videos and being able to download and play Cargobot from the App Store was a big selling point - it demonstrated what was achievable and while complex and polished didn’t feel unachievable. An active forum was also a big plus.
How did I find it? Via google searches. Youtube videos and a couple of reviews.
I still keep an active eye on the forum but don’t contribute as much as I like or used to (lack of free time). Still the most used app on my iPad. Keep up the good work!
I started programming on a TI SR56 calculator. It allowed only 100 steps for a program and there wasn’t anyway to save the program, so I guess 100 steps was plenty. I eventually got an Apple II computer and started programming in Basic and 6502 assembler. Later on I went with various Window PC’s where I used Power C to write programs in C. Sometime after that, I picked up an HP Jornada handheld device for a few dollars. I was able to put Pocket C on it and that allowed me to write GUI type code in C using a touch screen. Later on I bought an iPad 1 for my wife who wanted to use it for viewing her photography. It didn’t allow her to update the pictures like she wanted and she went back to a PC. I eventually got the iPad and found the programming app iLuaBox Pro. I played around with that for awhile until someone on the iLuaBox forum mentioned Codea. I played with both Codea and iLuaBox Pro until iLuaBox Pro stopped its updates and was no longer supported by later versions of iOS. I still have iLuaBox Pro on my iPad 1, but it doesn’t come close to Codea. I’ve been using Codea since May 2012, and l’m still learning new things which keeps me interested. So finding Codea was from someone talking about it, but I probably would have found it by doing an App Store search at some point. My main job started as a computer operator, but after programming on the TI SR56 and enjoying it, I switched to programming where I did that for over 38 years until I retired. I’m just programming for fun now and still enjoying it.
PS. I still buy old calculators for a few dollars that allow programming just to play with them. I just picked up a TI-Nspire with 2 keypads for $10 that I’m currently trying to understand.
I found Codea through technology websites that I read. I don’t remember exactly which site sorry it was a long time ago. I have been programming on the side (of my regular job) since high school. I was interested in programming apps for iOS but I travel a lot and did not want to carry around a MacBook. When I found out I could program on an iPad through Codea and submit my apps to the App Store I was sold!
What kept me coming back and actually using Codea:
I am very interested in a univesal app as I have so far kept my Codea projects to iPad only but would like to add iPhone support. I know it was possible through Xcode but I like to see the project running real time as I make changes on the iPhone.
@John I have enjoyed programming, on a hobby level, for the last 37 years. I had just finished an OU Web Design course in retirement and was looking for a good programming environment on my iPad. Good user interface, not reliant on complex bulky libraries. Looked at several but Codea stood out - good forum, excellent support and membership, positive development environment, accessible development team open to users needs/suggestions and many competent support mods willing to spend their time with your problems.
Still love playing with it. Just get less time nowadays.
@John forgot to ask, does universal mean a Codea app on the mac, with all the benefits of a desktop ui and filing?
That would be awesome.
I dont remember how I found out about it, I think an app store search on programming.
Plug&play coding is it’s best feature for me. Can’t find anything else like it. I have a javascript and Flash actionscript background, the latter kind of lost it’s appeal as mobile browsers rarely support it.
I got Codea in 2014. I don’t remember how I found it, either an App Store search for coding, or maybe an App Store feature? I think I bought Pythonista at the same time. I remember Codea sat around on my device for several months before I really started using it in autumn 2014. I didn’t know where to begin I guess. I think it was @Ignatz coolcodea blog series that really hooked me in. I hadn’t programmed anything since 8-/ 16-bit BASIC days.
I’ve never really got into Pythonista though. It’s still on my device, and it’s an incredible achievement, but somehow I didn’t get hooked on it.
I enjoyed coding so much that in 2016 I switched career and I’m now a full-time developer. So there you go, Codea changed my life. Can’t say that about any other app!
I don’t remember exactly, but at the time I had $25 in App Store gift cards. after buying a few games I started looking for things that could make an iPad useful. I must have seen it somewhere on the web, probably one of those websites listing good apps to buy.
It was way back when the IPad 3 was released (2012) - cool device, with some good games and ease of access to the Internet, but what else could it do - there had to be more. I think it was an article in Wired that changed that - [https://wired.com/2011/10/codify-write-and-run-software-on-the-ipad/] back when it was called Codify. Wow, you could write your own apps - this harked back to my youth of writing on the Spectrum and BBC. I’ve been tinkering ever since and definitely the most used app on my trusty ipad (still version 3), although that may change soon, it’ll still be an iPad, so that I can install Codea.
Some years ago i bought an ipad1, and i was so frustrated i couldnt do anything interesting with it (beyond web browsing, video looking, and playind small games). I found textastic that was great to program a webapp in javascript, but web+javascript is such a pain i.t.a. to get anything done, and on top of that Apple multiple restrictions made it even more frustrating. I was regularly looking for a better api for coding something, and i had Appshopper, an app showing the price cuts. Codea was for a week 50% off, so it popped up and attracted my attention. At that time it was still a bit expensive for my standards, but i read the reviews that were excellent, there were many simple yet powerfull game examples that seemed within my reach, so i thought i would give it a try. Never regretted it: it made everything possible and so easy - except publishing to the App’store (but that’s Apple’ fault).
Just downloaded the Universal Beta. I still have to see how I can synchronize my projects, but I’m already impressed. Good job, guys!
I bought Codea a long time ago after reading about it in a tech blog. Never regretted it! The interface had finally tempted me to the purchase. It was refreshing different from anything I had to work with. I liked that all the tools were just there and I didn’t need a separate editor or runtime. I could just get started! I had programmed with Lua before, but had still a long way to go. Codea taught me everything I know about Lua and will hopefully continue to tech me further.
Originally, I bought codea to experiment and maybe program small games with it, but in a simple way - without compile times and dependencies overhead. Codea solved this requirement (and still does) excellently! What I love about Codea? I love the nice and supportive community. I love “touching” the code. I love all the widgets that allow me to choose colors, assets and shaders. I love to being portable (now even more so)! I dislike bugs, but they happen to all of us 
I think I just want to say a big thank you to @John and @Simeon for this great tool! Please continue developing, simplifying and extending Codea. One day you will be rewarded for all of your investments, trust me.
PS: If you want to expand your business try to get schools on board! I think the next few years are going to change schools. What children learn today has no value in just a few years, because technology is the future and we have to be able to program it. Codea could play a very important role in this.
I bought Codea back when it was called Codify. It came to my attention via an article (possibly the wired one linked above?) and I was blown away by the possibilities. I downloaded it and Codea was actually my first foray into coding. The touch friendly UI was awesome, and he ability to compile and run immediately enabled an unprecedented level of tinkering.
To this day, all of my published apps have been written in Codea.
I am a professional coder all day long, but at night and on weekends I want to build games and apps. I originally intended to use Corona, as the results would then run on iOS, Android and desktops, but I don’t want to come home after work to sit at my desk and code. My ultimate intent is to convert my Codea apps to Corona, but for now, I want something Lua that I can use on my couch or in bed… on my iPad.
I am reaching some limits in Codea, however, as my current, first project is growing. I’m not sure if these problems will eventually drive me elsewhere.
The first problem is that the “project manager” is way too simple for a lot of classes. I need a folder structure, or keeping things organized and finding them will become agonizing.
The second, bigger problem is how badly Codea handles bad code. Mistype a variable, or use myobject.somecall() instead of myobject:somecall() and your app just stops, with no clue of why or where. A normal environment/language gives you a stack trace. Codea could at least tag the line where execution terminated, and give you a button to press to jump there (basically any time you try to call a nil value). I know it’s more complicated than that because the app does keep running, but we need something (a list of nil calls and their locations?). Going back and adding print statements until isolating the line of code is an agony that grows and grows and will soon become untenable, at which point I’ll have to migrate to another environment.
The last problem is just inherent in Lua, that it’s a sloppy, typeless, scripting language, which makes it easy to learn and flexible, but also very easy to make the sorts of mistakes outlined above. But better developer tools (debugger, stack trace, etc.) in Codea would help a lot.
FYI, one solution I intend to proactively pursue is to write my own code analyzer to look for my two most common mistakes, calling mistyped object/function names, and referencing variable names in expressions which are never assigned values (which are likely more typos). You could add that to Codea as well.
@blacatena I have exactly the same issues with Codea as you. I’d love strict typing, better file management, and jumping from stacktrace to code.
I have some plans around these features.
I have started making pixel art on my ipad and was looking for an opportunity to use it in a game without leaving my ipad. Browsing through the app store I came across Codea and a few days ago I downloaded it. I’m new to lua and game programming and I love that it takes away the difficulty of setting up my environment and making choices. My fear down the road is that I’ll end up with something that I can’t easily share and get my friends to play. I had imagined spritesheets but I’ve been “upsold” a little with learning about meshes. So it’s fun but I’m a little bogged down. Hopefully the effort will pay off for me.
The primary factors in choosing Codea was that it looked like what I was interested in, seemed updated recently and regularly, and the reviews appeared that folks were getting a lot out of it.
I picked up an i-Pad magazine at Barnes & Noble book store, an it said buy codea. I knew nothing about programing. I think codea should have more youtube videos, I would like to fill this gap if I ever get good. This would bring the croud in.
A dream made it.
A long time ago my sister’s boyfriend gave his commodore VIC 20 to me, a 15 years old boy. At once I started to create some little games in basic. It was a dream: simply create games, no money, no fame, only games. Then I grew up, ran other roads, followed other dreams.
One day my wife gave her ipad to me, a 45 years old boy, and suddenly that dream came back: create games, only games!
I bought Codea on february 2012. I simply looked for an app to create games and Codea seemed the best!
Thanks to the poeple who have created codea, and thanks to every people write on the talk: I am, maybe, too lazy to really create games, but you all allow me to continue my dream.
Like dave1707 I also started programming on a TI programmable calculator in the early '80s. One hundred program steps, limited variable storage and no good way to save the code. Maddening but fun to use.
The majority of my professional career has been in mechanical drafting and design. CADD systems were getting starting so I followed that path. I natural progression lead me to computer programming using the C Programming language. I quickly learned I would starve if I had to program for a living. I tip my hat to programmers.
Fast forward some 30 plus years and I now I have an iPad which is somewhat like a big programmable calculator. Although, if I recall, it didn’t even come with a calculator app. One day I was searching the App Store for anything programming-related and stumbled upon Codea. I forget the price but whatever it was I thought long and hard before buying the app. (I can be pretty frugal at times)
I program strictly as a hobby and Codea provides me with a fun and easy way to create programs with a strong graphical emphasis. Truth be told I sometimes bang my head on the table while trying to solve a problem but when I figure something out it’s a great feeling.
And that leads me to my last thought. Every time I search for answers in the Codea forum I come away with newly-gained knowledge. I’ll take this this opportunity to thank everyone connected with the forum. All the users that provide guidance, if not answers and examples to some interesting questions deserve recognition. Without people like you – people like me struggle.
Thank You.