Comments on: My Flex and AIR Topics to Learn and Research for 2010 http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/2009/09/24/my-flex-and-air-topics-to-learn-and-research-for-2010/ Flex Developer, AIR Developer, ActionScript Programmer Wed, 19 May 2010 12:46:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Jeffry Houser http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/2009/09/24/my-flex-and-air-topics-to-learn-and-research-for-2010/comment-page-1/#comment-2192 Jeffry Houser Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:46:42 +0000 http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/?p=370#comment-2192 In terms of Custom Component Development, the "Halo" architecture is not going away any time soon. It isn't even deprecated in Flex 4. They will exist side by side at least until the next release; quite possibly longer. So, unfortunately, you should probably learn both Halo and Spark. :-) I'd start with the old architecture, because that will most likely be the preferred approach through the next nine months, at least. In terms of Custom Component Development, the “Halo” architecture is not going away any time soon. It isn’t even deprecated in Flex 4. They will exist side by side at least until the next release; quite possibly longer.

So, unfortunately, you should probably learn both Halo and Spark. :-) I’d start with the old architecture, because that will most likely be the preferred approach through the next nine months, at least.

]]> By: ash http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/2009/09/24/my-flex-and-air-topics-to-learn-and-research-for-2010/comment-page-1/#comment-2154 ash Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:49:54 +0000 http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/?p=370#comment-2154 I have a similar problem; a desire to learn everything. It's even harder when those interests extend beyond Flex. As the breadth of Flash development increases, so does the requirement for specialization. I think most developers resist specialization because the churn of obsolescence in tech is continual. You have to pick your ponies wisely. If Flex is your bread and butter, a work filter should be applied to study. If your immediate position requires (now or in the near future) a lot of custom component development, then by all means learn the intricate details of the component lifecycle. Just remember, those details are fleeting. Think of the investment in learning the ins and outs of Halo components, now contrast that with Spark. I have a similar problem; a desire to learn everything. It’s even harder when those interests extend beyond Flex.

As the breadth of Flash development increases, so does the requirement for specialization. I think most developers resist specialization because the churn of obsolescence in tech is continual. You have to pick your ponies wisely.

If Flex is your bread and butter, a work filter should be applied to study. If your immediate position requires (now or in the near future) a lot of custom component development, then by all means learn the intricate details of the component lifecycle. Just remember, those details are fleeting. Think of the investment in learning the ins and outs of Halo components, now contrast that with Spark.

]]> By: Darren http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/2009/09/24/my-flex-and-air-topics-to-learn-and-research-for-2010/comment-page-1/#comment-2150 Darren Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:34:48 +0000 http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/?p=370#comment-2150 If you already know Java, Wowza might also be a better fit for you than FMS. We use modules (with Cairngorm) in all our projects. Nothing special to know about them really although you do have to keep a close eye on memory management. I found using a single ModuleLoader and swapping modules in and out could cause nasty memory leaks. If your modules aren't very large and you can afford to keep them in memory once used, you can use separate ModuleLoaders for each module and swap between them. If you already know Java, Wowza might also be a better fit for you than FMS.

We use modules (with Cairngorm) in all our projects. Nothing special to know about them really although you do have to keep a close eye on memory management. I found using a single ModuleLoader and swapping modules in and out could cause nasty memory leaks. If your modules aren’t very large and you can afford to keep them in memory once used, you can use separate ModuleLoaders for each module and swap between them.

]]> By: admin http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/2009/09/24/my-flex-and-air-topics-to-learn-and-research-for-2010/comment-page-1/#comment-2149 admin Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:49:44 +0000 http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/?p=370#comment-2149 Hey Stephen, Thanks for stopping by to check out the blog post. This is great info you've provided, thanks a ton!! I'll look into Fabrication. I have worked with AMF a bit but certainly need to learn more about it. From what you're saying here it sounds like Red5 might be a little more robust. I'll have to check it out for sure! Thanks again for taking the time to check out the post and provide some feedback. Really appreciate it. Kind regards, Sean Hey Stephen,

Thanks for stopping by to check out the blog post.

This is great info you’ve provided, thanks a ton!! I’ll look into Fabrication. I have worked with AMF a bit but certainly need to learn more about it. From what you’re saying here it sounds like Red5 might be a little more robust. I’ll have to check it out for sure!

Thanks again for taking the time to check out the post and provide some feedback. Really appreciate it.

Kind regards,

Sean

]]> By: Stephen http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/2009/09/24/my-flex-and-air-topics-to-learn-and-research-for-2010/comment-page-1/#comment-2148 Stephen Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:45:37 +0000 http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/?p=370#comment-2148 When you start working with PureMVC, make sure you check out Fabrication (http://code.google.com/p/fabrication/), which is an extension of PureMVC that uses introspection and some other tricks to clean up the code that you have to write. If you're going to be using Adobe's Flash Media Server, make sure that you feel comfortable with other AMF gateways (RubyAMF, Zend AMF, etc.), as many of the things that you want to do can't be done in FMS ECMAScript - for that you need an AMF server to act as your backend. This includes things like database access, command line application running, and other things. I'm considering switching to Red5 after I get the current application I'm working on completed, but being as I'm not a Java developer, I may just stick with Adobe's FMS. When you start working with PureMVC, make sure you check out Fabrication (http://code.google.com/p/fabrication/), which is an extension of PureMVC that uses introspection and some other tricks to clean up the code that you have to write.

If you’re going to be using Adobe’s Flash Media Server, make sure that you feel comfortable with other AMF gateways (RubyAMF, Zend AMF, etc.), as many of the things that you want to do can’t be done in FMS ECMAScript – for that you need an AMF server to act as your backend. This includes things like database access, command line application running, and other things. I’m considering switching to Red5 after I get the current application I’m working on completed, but being as I’m not a Java developer, I may just stick with Adobe’s FMS.

]]> By: Abraham http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/2009/09/24/my-flex-and-air-topics-to-learn-and-research-for-2010/comment-page-1/#comment-2147 Abraham Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:57:28 +0000 http://seantheflexguy.com/blog/?p=370#comment-2147 Very interesting roadmap! Definetely you'll never stop learning when you are a developer, there are constantly emerging new technologies and possibilities, the more you know the better. Maybe i'll steal your roadmap and add it to mine :) Sean.gotoAndLearn(); // <-- not referring to another site Very interesting roadmap!

Definetely you’ll never stop learning when you are a developer, there are constantly emerging new technologies and possibilities, the more you know the better. Maybe i’ll steal your roadmap and add it to mine :)

Sean.gotoAndLearn(); // <– not referring to another site

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