A day in the life at Adobe!
Yes the photo here is from the magic 601 Townsend Street in San Francisco!
Macromedia!
Flesh Builder
The official statement came yesterday from @LeeBrimelow.
Flex Builder will have a new name from the next version, it will be called Flash Builder.
There is a lot of fuzz over the web about this change. I’ll try to describe things from my perspective.
First of all let me try to define a few things by trying to simplify them.
FLEX
People are mostly use the term Flex for:
-the Flex Framework: is build on top of AS3 and basically means that you use components to build SWFs.
You can use a combination of AS3 and MXML which is a declarative language, think of it as xml. If you still don’t get it think the Flex framework as a REALLY advanced components panel like the one in Flash IDE.
-the Flex Builder: a tool based on Eclipse. It’s more of a development environment but you can call it “an Adobe remix of Eclipse in a good way”.
When you download it (its free for Education and developers that lost their job thanks to the economic crisis) you get the Flex Builder AND a plug in for Eclipse, the choice for which one to use its yours. If you still don’t get it, first of all forgive me cause its 06:00 AM and English is not my native language, but you can (in a way) think of Flex Builder as a Flash IDE without the timeline but with an awesome AS3 editor.
More on the tool later*
FLASH
People are mostly use the term Flash for:
-the Flash Player, browser plug in or desktop app: You don’t really expect me to describe Flash baby Player right?
-the Flash IDE or Flash CS3, CS4, CS5 or Flash Professional : The tool that we all love and hate. The one that combines vector graphics, bitmap graphics, sound, video, fonts, code and so much more to create beautiful things and some not so beautiful things (banners, skip intros etc).
-swf files: These little files that have changed the web. They can be simple banners, full sites, presentations, applications, games and SOOOO many things.
*Now more on the tool.
Adobe created Flex Builder for the developers to be able to code easily Flex and later Air apps. But Flex Builder is an awesome Actionscript 3 editor too.
So this nice editor can export stuff for the web and the desktop.
For the desktop, Flex Builder exports apps that run on the Adobe Air runtime.
For the web, Flex Builder exports ONLY SWFs. The exact same files that Flash IDE exports.
If you are still here, reading this post, I’m sure you ‘ve faced the confusion with some of your customers, boss, friends etc or even with your self. I’m talking about the confusion when someone uses the word Flash or Flex to describe some or all of the above list. Its clear that Adobe had to do something about it. So that’s why Flex Builder will be called Flash Builder from the next version (version 4, codenamed Gumbo – and I’m telling you it’s awesome!).
I’m almost sure that this is a good move but its not complete yet in order to make things more clear. Flash Builder is a tool that publishes stuff for the Flash Platform and that stuff can be created either by using pure AS3 code or code from the Flex framework but in the end all you get are SWFs.
The only reason I could think on why the change might concern your clients is because Adobe did a good job on marketing the Flex brand and there is so much buzz around it while the same time some really “nice” guys are using the black days (and uses) of flash to show how bad flash is “in general”. But you know what.. even this doesn’t make ANY sense. If you are ready to make a proposal for a project that it has to be build using the Flex framework then go ahead and propose it. The customer doesn’t have to know the name of the tool you are going to use.
Don’t even consider that I’m suggesting you to “hide” the word Flash for the love of Macromedia!
If someone thinks that Flash is all about skip intros and banners my first reaction is of course to try to open his eyes. Everyone deserves a chance. If he/she still doesn’t get it then fine he/she can go use this silverLITE thing and he/she will have my blessings.
Other than that the Flex framework is called Flex framework. In the next months it will be more easy when someone uses just the word Flex because the framework will be the only thing that will have that name. So I think with this renaming Adobe cleared a lot the confusion around the term “Flex”.
The big problem although was and I’m afraid still is the “Flash” word. You see Flash means so many things and now there is even one more product name that includes that word. If the confusion remains after this it will be only because the term Flash is used again. If lets say for example Flex Builder became Adobe Builder (NO I’m not suggesting anything here!) it would be more clear to new people what this tool is all about. Now using the term Flash, some people might think that this is ANOTHER .fla IDE.
I think Adobe has in mind more re-brandings starting with the Flash IDE. @PeterElst and many others had a nice suggestion to rename Flash IDE on something like Flash Designer. Maybe that would be enough, I don’t really need such a change but many others do as with the Flex Builder. I totally understand that such move can shake the web (I don’t know if its going to be on the same magnitude as the “Google down” day) but renaming Flex Builder I guess was an easier move.
Even if this happens I don’t really mind that much. In the end of the day the only thing that I notice was a change in the name of the product.
I like the Flash Builder name but people have to realise that this “Flash” on the name refers to the FLASH PLATFORM.
Now if they tried to change the name of the platform or lets say the player I would be the first to go to Redmond and sell my soul. (but I don’t worry about it cause I think they are is a good way.. right?)
Good night
Best way to get Flex Builder in Greece
As I have already mention in older posts, Flex Builder is a really nice coding editor for Actionscript 3. Yes pure AS3, no Flex framework at all.
I know that using an IDE without timeline and library and all the cool stuff that Flash IDE has to offer is a bit scary, at least for those of us that have an animation background but believe me.. Today, with the power of AS3, Flex Builder is the best code editor that Adobe has to offer.
I can tell you that when I bought Flex Builder 2, I had to pay 900 euros and that was almost a full salary for me back then! Switching to pure AS3 development it wasn’t also an option for me for many reasons so I had to buy it my self.. just for my self! There was no other way to buy Flex Builder like for example buy it straight from Adobe so I had to use the official channel, which was the distributor way. I live in a country were software piracy “shines” but I wanted to buy Flex Builder.
Why?
There are cases that an independent developer writes a really nice app and sells it for lets say 30-40 euros. I can not believe that there are people out there that will still try to use a cracked version of the app, no matter if they spend the same amount of money or more to buy crap. Yes I have met people that pay M$ to use XBox live but they don’t even consider buying lets say Transmit :O
This is what I call sad..
Now for the Adobe case, Flex Builder was expensive and definitely Adobe wasn’t the small company that needed my 900 euros to keep developing Flex Builder of course. But I gave them the money and let me tell you that I haven’t regret. I love Flex Builder and every day I love it more and more. Yes there are alternatives out there but since it works for me I just keep using it. 900 euros was and still is a lot of money but the feeling that I paid the efforts of all these guys from the Flex Builder team is really nice. Other way to express this would be that every (or at least almost every) bit of FB worths it. A friend of mine believes the same for Ableton Live. I don’t see this as paying a big corporation.. I see it as paying the salaries of the master minds that write the software.. and yes Adobe gets some money too. But thats the way it is.. As a matter of fact have you seeing what Adobe does since 2005? If there is a corporation to love today, who is it??
For the “thinking different” minds I have to say that yes, I am a Flash Platform freak. I
believe on it and I love it as nothing else out there.
Not paying for such software is like not paying for Twitter and that is not ok for me. You can call me weird 
Anyway lets go back to the rock..
The reason that I wanted to write this post is because for a long time I was expecting some changes but unfortunately I can not see it yet.
A few days ago I got a newsletter that the Adobe’s distributor had a facelift on their site so I thought I should visit it. To my big surprise I notice that Flex Builder 2 was listed under the Educational section and it cost 87 euros (exl VAT) and thats when I started screaming on twitter 
..and they almost are here..
Since today that I checked again, Flex Builder is still listed under the Educational section but there is no available info like the other apps have there. Actually the whole line is empty (no version or platform info).
I really like that they don’t sell it anymore if this is really the case but the fact that Adobe offers Flex Builder 3 Pro for education FOR FREE for a few months now you can imaging how I felt when I saw that FB 2 actually costs money in Greece.
I would really like to see a push of Adobe’s Educational pricing model for Flex Builder 3 and ColdFusion 8 from its Greek distributor, Anodos.gr.
So here are your options to GET Flex Builder today if you are in Greece:
Adobe e-store
Keep in mind that through the Adobe e-store you can only download the software and not get a box. My experience with the e-store is nice. The first time I used my credit card I got an email saying that it might take up to 2 days to approve it and send me the license key and I was freaking out because through the e-store you are supposed to get the software immediately but they emailed me my license in the next 2 hours. If this in not the case for you, you should also have in mind that you can always use the trial software until the serial gets to you. The really cool part of buying software through Adobe’s e-store is that you can always download it again and again along with the license.
Adobe’s distributor in Greece
I’m trying to find Flex Builder on their e-store but unfortunately I can’t. I don’t know why but I do know that they have a large channel in Greece so probably they sell it through other stores. I’m curious about how this affects even more the price but I keep thinking positive.
Adobe Events arroung the world
Adobe is well known for the cool events that is organizing arroung the world with the most famous and after the MAX Conference (yes the Macromedia* Conference) the onAir tour that did last year on the US and Europe. Obviously the economic crisis put on hold those kind of events for now and even MAX Europe will not happen this year but on many Adobe or Adobe related events, software is given away for free from the awesome Platform Evangelism Team.
*you really though I could finish this post without even mention the word?
(forgive me and please correct me if I forgot any other way)
Now the coolest part..
Flex Builder 3 Professional is FREE for education.
All you have to do is visit freeriatools.adobe.com and provide a student ID, faculty ID, employee ID or a letter on an educational institution letterhead stating that you are either a current student, a current faculty member or a current employee of the institution.
..and if that wasn’t enought Adobe took it a bit farther..
Flex Builder is FREE for unemployed developers.
You can read more info on the same page but in short if you are affected by the economic crisis and you are a developer, Adobe is here to help.
You want more?
ColdFusion 8 is FREE for education.
I guess you know the link now..
Kinda Easter Egg..
When you buy Flex Builder you can order the Flex Framework and Actionscript 3 Class Diagram posters for free! Yes it works for Greece too and the shipping is really fast!
So what about the question title of this post?
Its up to you to find the right answer.
I only wanted to get some facts together to help you.
Go try Flex Builder and let me know your thoughts.
Air Windows..
In this post I will try to describe the window types that we can create on Adobe Air by using Flex Builder and the Flex framework. This is a reference for me so if you think I miss some points please feel free to comment above. Air 1.5 Cookbook by O’reilly will be next to me as I go through this post. *
The First Window is automatically created by AIR.
The properties of this window can be set on the application descriptor file under the initialWindow node(The app descriptor file is named after the project name -”project name”.xml and is located on the src folder of the project).
Those properties are title, systemChrome, transparent, visible, minimizable, maximizable, resizable, width, height, x, y, minSize, maxSize and some others. Many of these properties have a default value which is the most useful for most of the cases so you don’t have to bother. The only required attribute for the initialWindow node is the content (the path to the swf/html file) but if you are using Flex Builder, Flash IDE or DreamWeaver they manage to do the job for you!
Other Windows:
NativeWindow: creates a native operating system window.
We instantiate the NativeWindow class and pass the constructor a NativeWindowInitOptions object.
That object contains the properties of the look and feel of the window.
These properties are: maximizable, minimizable, resizable, systemChrome, transparent, type(normal, utility, lightweight).
Here is a simple example:
<mx:WindowedApplication xmlns:mx=”http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml” layout=”absolute” applicationComplete=”createAnotherWindow()” title=”Core Window“>
<mx:Script>
<![CDATA[
private function createAnotherWindow():void
{
//properties fot the new window
var options:NativeWindowInitOptions = new NativeWindowInitOptions();
options.maximizable = true;
options.minimizable = true;
options.resizable = true;
options.systemChrome = NativeWindowSystemChrome.STANDARD;
options.transparent = false;
options.type = NativeWindowType.NORMAL;
//the new window
var window:NativeWindow = new NativeWindow(options);
window.title = "Second Window";
window.width = 200;
window.height = this.nativeWindow.height;
window.x = this.nativeWindow.x + this.nativeWindow.width;
window.y = this.nativeWindow.y;
//show it
window.activate();
}
]]>
</mx:Script>
</mx:WindowedApplication>
There are 3 types of windows in AIR and they are defined on theNativeWindowInitOptions type property.
Normal: Appears on the Windows taskbar or the Mac window menu. Chrome from the operating system is used and it looks like that:
Utility: Does not appear on the Windows taskbar or the Mac window menu. Chrome from the operating system is used but in a lighter version (there are no minimize/maximize btns etc).
Lightweight**: Does not appear on the Windows taskbar nor on the Mac window menu, it doesn’t use the system chrome and it “looks” like that:
**Remember that in order to have a Lightweight window we have to set the systemChrome to false.
Notice that the core window doesn’t have focus and that is because I clicked on the Lightweight window which is completely transparent but it exists and it stands on the right side of the core window!
All examples above have being created with the exact same code as the example provided, the only difference between the 3 of them is the type property and in the case of the Lightweight window I also had to change the NativeWindowSystemChrome from STANDARD to NONE.
From now on we can add whatever we like on each stage of each window just by referring to it like that:
window.stage.addChild(”something to add”);
The Flex Framework offers 2 classes for windows, the WindowedApplication and the Window.
As in our example the WindowedApplication acts as the application container for our Flex-based Air app. So the content of that container is actually the content of our initial window. We can use the Window component as a container for additional windows that we might need and we should keep in mind that this component CANNOT be nested inside anyting else because it is a top-level layout container!
Both of these classes have an underline NativeWindow object that they use for creating and controlling the native OS windows. We gain access on that NativeWindow object by using the stage.nativeWindow property of any display object.
As a best practice as I can think and as the Air CookBook suggests is that we should create the extra windows as a separate components based on the <mx:Window> tag and activate them when we need them via MXML or AS.
At first I create an mxml component in a folder called components under the src folder which looks like that:
<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″?>
<mx:Window xmlns:mx=”http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml” layout=”vertical” width=”800” height=”600” title=”BrowserWindow“>
<mx:Script>
<![CDATA[
private var url:String;
public function set theUrl(url:String):void
{
this.url = url;
browser.location = url;
}
public function get theUrl():String
{
return(this.url);
}
]]>
</mx:Script>
<mx:Label text=”MY BROWSERWINDOW” fontWeight=”bold” fontSize=”17” textAlign=”center” width=”100%” height=”50“/>
<mx:HTML id=”browser” width=”100%” height=”100%“/>
</mx:Window>
Then I use that component via Actionscript:
<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″?>
<mx:WindowedApplication xmlns:mx=”http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml” layout=”absolute” applicationComplete=”init()”>
<mx:Script>
<![CDATA[
import components.BrowserWindow;
private function init():void
{
var browser:BrowserWindow = new BrowserWindow();
browser.open(true);
browser.theUrl = "http://www.macromedia.com";
}
]]>
</mx:Script>
</mx:WindowedApplication>
..or via MXML like that:
<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″?>
<mx:WindowedApplication xmlns:mx=”http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml” layout=”absolute” xmlns:browser=”components.*”>
<mx:Script>
<![CDATA[
private function init():void
{
browserWindow.open(true);
browserWindow.theUrl = "http://www.macromedia.com";
}
]]>
</mx:Script>
<browser:BrowserWindow id=”browserWindow” creationComplete=”init();”/>
</mx:WindowedApplication>
* This post was meant to be a lot bigger but since its in my drafts for over 2 weeks I thought I should release it and when I’ll find some time to extend it more I’ll do it. From the start of writing this post I upgrade WordPress to 2.7 (awesome guys), moved to (mt) (love them so far), traveled 400 kms away from my base in Athens and it took me only 45 minutes since I used a plane for the 1st time for this trip and I spend MANY hours to find a decent WordPress plugin that can format nicely MXML + AS3 in order for you to be able to just copy and paste the code but I finally decided to not use any of them simply because they dont do the job I want.
Thanks for reading, cheers to a happy, flashy, flexy and sexy 2009 full of love, piece and Flash baby Player goodness.
Be proud and thankful for the best piece of software out there.. the one and only
Macromedia – Adobe Flash Player!
Savvas
