Should You Learn Flex 3 or Flex 4? [Halo vs Spark]
Aug 11, 2009 Opinion
I just received a tweet from baskeddy asking the best way to get into Flex right now.
@garthdb do you know if flash builder is so fundamentally different from Flex 3 that getting a 3 book would be a waste of time?
So Adobe recently released a beta for Flash Builder 4, the latest iteration of Flex Builder. It is a fantastic build and we raved about it on the Summer of Flash Podcast at InsideRIA, but Flex Builder 3 isn’t so far off from Flash Builder 4. The real question is less about the IDE and more about the SDK.
There is a certain level of confusion caused by the names of the Flex products. Flex Builder is an application designed as the integrated development environment (IDE) of choice for developing RIA for the Flash Platform, while Flex usually refers to the Flex Framework and standard development kit (SDK). The confusion is understandable and is most likely the main motivation for the name change to Flash Builder.
So although there aren’t major differences in the Flash Builder application it does come with the Flex 4 framework and SDK. The Flex 4 framework is drastically different from Flex 3. It is incredibly powerful and will change the way Flex developers work. However at the time of writing this post it is still in Beta and the learning process is a bit more rocky. There is not a Flex 4 book you can pick up as most publishers will wait until the final product launches.
This brings us back to the initial question – should you spend your time learning Flex 3 or Flex 4. I guess the answer to that depends on what you are planning to do and how you learn best. If you are learning in your free time and are happy to experiment and play I would recommend jumping in to Flex 4 head first and enjoy the deep new feature set. However if you are working on a project for a client or prefer to learn from a book structure you should probably spend your time with Programming Flex 3 and the Flex 3 Cookbook. It will not be wasted time. It would help you nail down the basics, but there will be a certain amount of relearning when the Flex 4 final product is released.
One final thought to add: although Flex 4 is very different from Flex 3, they are both based in ActionScript 3 and having solid AS3 knowledge will help in either framework. I would really look at The ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook and Essential ActionScript 3.0. They are both excellent for learning and reference; I usually keep them close.
Tags: ActionScript 3.0, Adobe, Adobe Flex, Flex 4, learning
Cairngorm and Zend AMF [360|MAX]
Nov 11, 2008 Adobe, Announcements
I will be presenting at 360|MAX on Nov 19th from 3:30-4:30pm. I will be doing some walkthrough and explanation of Cairngorm and Zend AMF. To speed up the demos I will be using Cairngen. I also have created a screencast on setting up Cairngen in Flex Builder 3.
You can find details on the schedule.
Update: The presentation went well. Thanks 360|Conferences, Wade Arnold, and those who showed up. You can find the slides below.
30onMAX Video
Nov 4, 2008 Creative
So I finally finished my 30onMAX video. I drew most of it in Illustrator CS4 using the new Blob brush.
It is my first official After Effects project. I would have done more, but the deadline was today, still I’m pretty happy with it, and happy it’s done.
Tags: Adobe, After Effects, Code Ninja, Graphics Rockstar, MAX, Motion Pirate, Video
Flash Player 10
Oct 15, 2008 Adobe, Web Development
It is here. Let’s get it rolled out at as quick as possible. I harness some of its awesomeness, but it is much easier to convince the bosses if the software penetration is good.
Download the regular version here.
For the debug you can find it in the Flash Player 10 update for OS X and Windows here.
Tags: Adobe, Flash Player
Use Kuler in Native OS X Color Picker with Mondrianum 2
Oct 15, 2008 Adobe
Lithoglyph Software has made a cool color picker that lets you use Adobe Kuler in the OS X native color picker.
Very cool. Check it out.
[Via Download Squad]
