A lot of effort has gone into the LiveCode 5 release, and the limelight so far has fallen on the new hardware acceleration and graphics rendering speed. The new engine features are very exciting, but to my mind almost as important are the new learning materials we’ve been producing.
Features are only as useful as your ability to use them. That’s why I’m delighted that Elanor Buchanan has spent the last couple of months working on a brand new set of Getting Started videos. Whether you’ve only just come across LiveCode, or you’ve been using it for a while but are still a bit hazy on some of the basics, this course is invaluable. You don’t have to watch it from A-Z if you just want a refresh on a particular area. For example, if you are already confident with manipulating Data and Text, but you are unsure how to get your data into and out of a database, skip right ahead to Lesson 5, Using Databases.
If you are a complete beginner this course is a fantastic way to hit the ground running. Download the lesson materials and work along with the videos. Start with a tour of LiveCode, then build your interface. Learn to manipulate data and text, skin your app, use databases and finally deploy the app to the Mac, Windows and Linux desktop platforms, plus iOS and Android.
With a bit of attention and application, you should end up with your first sample app with miminal effort and just a few hours of your time. Let’s hear it for Elanor, and her clear, easy explanations of the basics of application development. An added bonus is listening to what has been described as “her charming scottish accent”. Thanks Elanor!
