My First Try at Flex
Flex is now approaching its 4th version. Even since its start, it looked promising. Until some time ago, I didn’t look much into it for it was not Open enough. Two years ago, in order to use Flex application freely, you had to limit yourself to a little subset of Flex.
This has changed. At the end of last year, though, my client gave me the opportunity to prototype a simple application and I dived into it. This development gave me an insight into BlazeDS, Spring BlazeDS and Flex itself. Of course, I realized I barely scratched the surface of it. In order to go further into the user interface itself, I created my resume in Flex.
This screen (I can’t call it an application) has the following features:
- Resource loading: I made the screen so that the resume is available outside it. I use the URLLoader object and reacts according to success / failure events
- XML parsing: the resume is available in XML format and each part of the screen uses part of it
- HTML formatting. Since the XML Schema I use is Europass, I cannot do what I want. In order to display things the way I want them, I had to clutter the XML with HTML tags and use the HTML formatting through Flex
- Internationalization: the feature is done, I just have to translate the resume itself in English (no small feat for me) and German (will need help!)
- Mavenization: the entire build is done with the help of Maven and the excellent FlexMojos. The latter let me build Flex without the need of FlexBuilder
- Components: I used modular components so that the resume displayes at the center of the screen can be shared (provided you supply the resume with valid XML). Anyone interested?
Due to my lack of knowledge, the implementation of only these took me some time. Yet, I’m very positive about the technology.
I only discovered a problem lately: not all the classes documented in the FlexDocs are available freely. Some, such as the AdvancedDataGrid, are not included in framework.swc and are only usable for a fee. Even though I’m French (and as such labeled as a communist in the US), I understand Adobe’s strategy to make some components free and some not. IBM does the same with Eclipse plugins. What I find devious is that the documentation is aggregated and does not make such distinction.
Anyway, my resume is here.
(Note: Opinions expressed in this article and its replies are the opinions of their respective authors and not those of DZone, Inc.)
Comments
Peter ___ replied on Fri, 2010/01/22 - 6:48am
Dear Nicolas,
thanks for this post!
I always was a bit reserved and sceptical about Flex, because it was not free or not cheap (maybe european guys like us are a bit too communistic with this ;-)).
Although the technology itself looks very promising from your provided resume :-)
Two questions:
Nicolas Frankel replied on Fri, 2010/01/22 - 7:30am
Hi Peter,
First, I'm not a Flex specialist. I'm just toying with the technology now so I speak under the control of real Flex programers:
- I can't enumerate the features you have to pay for because I have found only AdvandedDataGrid yet. All features I consider mandatory are free: communication through HTTP, conversion from the Java world to Flex and reversed, etc. Moreover, the paying features are included in FlexBuilder (250$) meaning buying FlexBuilder let you have the license to use these super components freely
- For Flex, you need XML and ActionScript which is a specialized JavaScript, that's all and that's what's great! You can spice it with CSS but that's not a requirement.
NicolasPeter ___ replied on Fri, 2010/01/22 - 9:35am
Otengi Miloskov replied on Fri, 2010/01/22 - 11:26am
Nicolas Frankel replied on Fri, 2010/01/22 - 12:01pm
in response to:
Otengi Miloskov
Agreed, the price is a real argument against it (though I'm not aware of such a high price). We are now used to free IDEs but I have known the time when you had to pay for these and it was about the same price.
Anyway, apart from purely technical criteria, you have to consider ROI. How much time will you need to do your charts in JavaFX? How much with FlexBuilder? How much are you paid? Then you'll see how much FlexBuilder is really worth in your case.
Otengi Miloskov replied on Fri, 2010/01/22 - 9:32pm
in response to:
Nicolas Frankel
Roger Voss replied on Fri, 2010/01/22 - 11:27pm
What is it that folks have against Adobe making some money on Flex tools in order to defray their development cost?
I for one don't want to see Adobe go the way of Sun to where they give great software away for free and then dwindle away into a non-viable business because of the scant revenue streams of open source software business models.
For $699, the Flex Builder Pro is an excellent value. The charting package, advanced data grid, and automation classes add definite value to applications that are built.
Think about the fellow software developers that are putting their heart and soul (and of course craft and professionalism) into making these fine software programs. We all need to make a living, so why begrudge those that make a living from creating software by expecting them to labor for no compensation?
Some open software is created by foundations that essentially operate like charities. Their benefactors tend to be large IT industry companies that have some intrinsic interest in the software. Adobe is a for-profit company - not a charity. So the software it creates it ultimately needs to derive revenue from in order to stay in business. If you like Flex as a development platform, wouldn't you like to see the creator of the platform be around for the long haul? If I'm building products for customers and want to have those relationships for years, then I'd like to see a healthy platform that improves and innovates - value that I get to pass on to my customers.
Peter ___ replied on Sat, 2010/01/23 - 12:11pm
> If you like Flex as a development platform,
How should I like it if I never get started with it (e.g. in my spare time)? Except that my boss says do that and use Flex ...