| xing for the Web": What Is Flex and Why | | | | many other revieewers have noted, and the |
| Sohuld You Use It? | | | | desiggner-slash-programmer job title is a more and |
| There appears to be a bit of confusion aboout | | | | more common one these days. When you start |
| Flex-what it is, why you should use it-that is not part | | | | working with Flex, that's one of the frst things you |
| of any other Adobe product's public proflie. hTere | | | | will notice. |
| has to be a reason this smart, on-the-spot company | | | | Simpply put, you "design" Flex apps by |
| brought it to market and continues to update it. Yes, | | | | choosing pre-made gaphic components like buttons, |
| it has to do with being rich, but no, it's not about | | | | grids and boxxes that you will recognize from Flsah. |
| mony, and this is not an anti-capitalpist screed. | | | | These cookie-cuutters are great, and so are the |
| Say what you want about your pet ecnoomic | | | | pre-made goodies, although some |
| theories, but even a slightly free market alllows for | | | | developer-designers will lcaim (correctly) that you can |
| thousands of times the innovation of a controlled | | | | better control coponent size, if not functionality, by |
| one. In short, Adobe designed Flex because they | | | | making your own. That said, they work dependably |
| sensed a need and filled it. Flsah deevelopers and | | | | and are very customizable, so the real-wiorld |
| Web gurus of all kinds needed a leg up in developing | | | | probems being imagineed never really come up. |
| the next generation of Rich Internnet Applications | | | | Arrangement and ortder |
| (RIAs), which can be built to the "okay" | | | | The user interface is siple and easy to use, and you |
| level right in Flash but needed more to be | | | | simpkly arrange components "on stage" |
| "insanely great," as some black | | | | how you want them. You will use the Continers to |
| turteneck-wearing guy likes to say. | | | | alihgn your components howveer you want. A simple |
| So what is it? | | | | example is the VBox, a Container that takes |
| At the most basic, a Flex appilcation is a Flash .swf | | | | everything inside it and puts them in a vertical |
| file that has been embedded in an HTML file. Flex | | | | alignmnt, very hasndy when you're setting up forms. |
| outputs as .swf, wihch enables you to take | | | | Then you customize your look with styles and skoins, |
| advantage of all the features of the Flash | | | | set up your CSS formats and finish up the |
| Player-sound and voideo management, the drawiing | | | | "design" to move on to |
| API, dynamic animations and more. The HTML that | | | | "development." |
| Flex generates has the JavaSacript needed to | | | | With graphhics in place and the app lookking how you |
| determine if users have Flash Player installed or need | | | | want it, you're ready to put AS3 to work handling |
| to add or update it. | | | | evbents, creating classes or importing functions to |
| Flex didn't zoom right into the stratosphere like Flash, | | | | make the Flex application a doer, not just another |
| but it has graudally become more popular for its use | | | | pretty face. Your app will respond to the user input |
| of ActionScript 3.0. Fact is, developeers creeated | | | | as well as its own generated evemnts-and connect |
| AS3 apps in Flex even before AS3 was officially | | | | to ColdFusion and otehr Flex Data/Communication |
| released to Flash developers. Once Flash made it into | | | | Servixces. Remember when you're deciding about |
| Adobe's Creative Studio 3 (CS3), AS3 becme a | | | | whethr or not to use Flex that its aprtnership with |
| standard, and it's what made "Flexing your | | | | ColdFusion is heaven sent, a real blessing. |
| Web mucsles" more exciting, and more | | | | Now you are ready to persent the Flex app to the |
| innovative. | | | | client, the company, your boss or the owrld-or all of |
| So how do you create a Flex app? | | | | the above. Of course, if you haven't used Flex yet, |
| Ulike other toos for video and aniomation (and even | | | | this article was not a tutorial, but a revbiew (and an |
| animated GIFs in the defunct ImageReady), the Flex | | | | overviwe). Try it out yourrself. Adobe makes it easy |
| workspace does not work with a Timeline. This is not | | | | with a 30-day trial preiod, fully functional. If it's a tool |
| a limiting factor, though, as Flex realyl is positioned | | | | you need, you will know it soon enough, and it won't |
| for programmers rather than designers. Interestingly, | | | | take you long to lern it if you're mottivated. Give it a |
| it ends up "somewhere in the middle," as | | | | shot! |