The first book to completely demystify leading-edge component development with the Adobe Flex 3 platform - How to build components for Flex and AIR applications using ActionScript 3.0 and Adobe's powerful MXML user interface markup language - Covers expert techniques most books ignore, including component metadata, error handling, documentation, and creating Flex components in Flash using the Flex Component Kit - By Mike Jones, world-renowned Flex development consultant and speaker Summary Adobe Flex 3 offers a powerful new framework that web developers can use to quickly produce richer, more immersive, higher-value solutions. To help developers build the most powerful next-generation web applications, Adobe structured the Flex framework around components, and allowed developers to extend Flex's capabilities with their own components. However, few Flex developers know how to create these custom components. Developing Flex Components is the first book to completely demystify that process. Renowned Flex developer and speaker Mike Jones begins by presenting a quick overview of Flex and Flex Builder aimed at ActionScript 3.0 Flash developers. Jones explains the anatomy of a Flex component, including both visual and non-visual components, and introduces the components that come with the Flex framework. Next, one step at a time, he walks through building new Flex components that leverage the platform's powerful capabilities and can be incorporated into both Flex and AIR applications. Jones covers topics that are rarely addressed in Flex books, including component metadata, events and error handling, data binding, skinning, styling, and creating Flex components in Flash using the Flex Component Kit. He also presents a full chapter on writing and maintaining component documentation, as well as an appendix of additional resources for Flex component developers.
The best way to showcase a powerful new technology is to demonstrate its real-world results, and that's exactly what this new Cookbook does with Adobe Flex 3.
Wide ranging and highly practical, Flex 3 Cookbook contains more than 300 proven recipes for developing interactive Rich Internet Applications and Web 2.0 sites. You'll find everything from Flex basics, to solutions for working with visual components and data access, to tips on application development, unit testing, and using Adobe AIR.
You also get ideas from the development community. Through its Flex Cookbook website (www.adobe.com/devnet/), Adobe invited Flex developers to post their own solutions for working with this technology, and from hundreds of posts, the authors chose the best and most useful solutions to supplement Flex 3 Cookbook.
Each recipe inside provides a solution to a common problem, explains how and why it works, and offers sample code that you can put to use immediately. Topics include:
Containers and dialogues
Working with Text
Data driven components
DataGrid and Advanced DataGrid
ItemRenderers and Editors
Images, bitmaps, videos, and sounds
CSS, styling, and skinning
States and effects
Working with Collections, arrays, and DataProviders
Using DataBinding
Validation, formatting, and regular expressions
Using Charts and data visualization
Services and Data Access
Using RSLs and Modules
Working with Adobe AIR
Whether you're a committed Flex developer or still evaluating the technology, you'll discover how to get quick results with Flex 3 using the recipes in this Cookbook. It's an ideal way to jumpstart your next web application.
Flex 4 is an open-source tool that allows developers to easily add life to web applications with dynamic user features, colorful transitions, and eye-catching animations. Flex also provides powerful data handling for industrial-strength applications.
We think it should be just as much fun to learn Flex as it is to use it. And we know that fun learning gets better results. Hello! Flex 4 demonstrates how to get started without getting bogged down in technical detail or academic edge cases. In this book, User Friendly cartoon characters offer commentary and snide side comments, as the book moves quickly from Hello World into practical techniques. Each one is illustrated with a hands-on example. Along the way, readers will build a unique Flex application that mashes Yahoo Maps with Twitter to keep track of friends.
With this collection of proven recipes, you have the ideal problem-solving guide for developing interactive Rich Internet Applications on the Adobe Flash Platform. You'll find answers to hundreds of common problems you may encounter when using Adobe Flex, Flex 4 Framework, or Flash Builder, Adobe's GUI-based development tool.
Flex 4 Cookbook has hands-on recipes for everything from Flex basics to solutions for working with visual components and data access, as well as tips on application development, unit testing, and Adobe AIR. Each recipe provides an explanation of how and why it works, and includes sample code that you can use immediately. You'll get results fast, whether you're a committed Flex developer or still evaluating the technology. It's a great way to jumpstart your next web application.
Many Flex books cover the basics—this book does something different, and goes far further. The authors, leading Flash platform developers at Almer/Blank, working with Adobe User Group communities, are the creators of the Rich Media Exchange (RMX), a social media network for Adobe developers. In covering just how the RMX was built, this book contains all the knowledge you need to build similar large-scale Rich Internet Applications with Adobe Flex. From the inception of the idea through to deployment, the authors show the techniques needed to plan and build advanced applications. You'll learn how to use forms, styles, validators, video, sound analysis, and framework caching, ensuring you make the most of the new features introduced in Flex 3. Powerful applications require solid back ends. This book shows how to hook up a Flex application to PHP back-end systems such as Drupal and OpenAds. You'll learn how various parts of the RMX were built, including the blogs, event calendar, jobs board, and advertising system—elements that come together to really showcase the power of Flex. The RMX is built by Adobe Developers for Adobe Developers—a rewarding community relationship that guarantees results. The same spirit is carried into this book, with the authors wanting and helping to take you to the next level of Flash Platform application development.
In this book you'll learn how to
Effectively plan, wireframe, specify, develop, and release large-scale Flex applications, and discover what other development tools you'll want to start using immediately
Make your Flex applications look less like Flex with advanced styling and skinning techniques
Harness advanced Flex form features, including coding validators and building your custom form components
Implement a robust advertising system for a Flex application using OpenAds
Build powerful, custom multimedia players in Flex, including video players with the native VideoDisplay class and from scratch, and music players with advanced sound visualization
Summary of Contents
PART 1 PLANNING THE RMX
Chapter 1 Introduction to Flex 2 Applications
Chapter 2 Defining the Application: Introducing the RMX
Chapter 3 Planning the Application: Building the RMX
PART 2 BUILDING THE RMX CORE FUNCTIONS
Chapter 4 Preparing to Get to Work
Chapter 5 Styling Flex
Chapter 6 Collecting and Working with Aggregated Content
Chapter 7 Secondary Navigation
Chapter 8 Forms and Validation
Chapter 9 User Communications
Chapter 10 Working with Video
Chapter 11 Advertising and Flex
PART 3 BUILDING OUT NEW FEATURES
Chapter 12 Building the Blog
Chapter 13 Building the Jobs Board
Chapter 14 Building the Event Calendar
Chapter 15 Ideas for the Future: Extending the RMX
The best way to showcase a powerful new technology is to demonstrate its real-world results, and that's exactly what this new Cookbook does with Adobe Flex 3.
Wide ranging and highly practical, Flex 3 Cookbook contains more than 300 proven recipes for developing interactive Rich Internet Applications and Web 2.0 sites. You'll find everything from Flex basics, to solutions for working with visual components and data access, to tips on application development, unit testing, and using Adobe AIR.
You also get ideas from the development community. Through its Flex Cookbook website (www.adobe.com/devnet/), Adobe invited Flex developers to post their own solutions for working with this technology, and from hundreds of posts, the authors chose the best and most useful solutions to supplement Flex 3 Cookbook.
Each recipe inside provides a solution to a common problem, explains how and why it works, and offers sample code that you can put to use immediately. Topics include:
Containers and dialogues
Working with Text
Data driven components
DataGrid and Advanced DataGrid
ItemRenderers and Editors
Images, bitmaps, videos, and sounds
CSS, styling, and skinning
States and effects
Working with Collections, arrays, and DataProviders
Using DataBinding
Validation, formatting, and regular expressions
Using Charts and data visualization
Services and Data Access
Using RSLs and Modules
Working with Adobe AIR
Whether you're a committed Flex developer or still evaluating the technology, you'll discover how to get quick results with Flex 3 using the recipes in this Cookbook. It's an ideal way to jumpstart your next web application.
Flex 4 is an open-source tool that allows developers to easily add life to web applications with dynamic user features, colorful transitions, and eye-catching animations. Flex also provides powerful data handling for industrial-strength applications.
We think it should be just as much fun to learn Flex as it is to use it. And we know that fun learning gets better results. Hello! Flex 4 demonstrates how to get started without getting bogged down in technical detail or academic edge cases. In this book, User Friendly cartoon characters offer commentary and snide side comments, as the book moves quickly from Hello World into practical techniques. Each one is illustrated with a hands-on example. Along the way, readers will build a unique Flex application that mashes Yahoo Maps with Twitter to keep track of friends.
With this collection of proven recipes, you have the ideal problem-solving guide for developing interactive Rich Internet Applications on the Adobe Flash Platform. You'll find answers to hundreds of common problems you may encounter when using Adobe Flex, Flex 4 Framework, or Flash Builder, Adobe's GUI-based development tool.
Flex 4 Cookbook has hands-on recipes for everything from Flex basics to solutions for working with visual components and data access, as well as tips on application development, unit testing, and Adobe AIR. Each recipe provides an explanation of how and why it works, and includes sample code that you can use immediately. You'll get results fast, whether you're a committed Flex developer or still evaluating the technology. It's a great way to jumpstart your next web application.
Many Flex books cover the basics—this book does something different, and goes far further. The authors, leading Flash platform developers at Almer/Blank, working with Adobe User Group communities, are the creators of the Rich Media Exchange (RMX), a social media network for Adobe developers. In covering just how the RMX was built, this book contains all the knowledge you need to build similar large-scale Rich Internet Applications with Adobe Flex. From the inception of the idea through to deployment, the authors show the techniques needed to plan and build advanced applications. You'll learn how to use forms, styles, validators, video, sound analysis, and framework caching, ensuring you make the most of the new features introduced in Flex 3. Powerful applications require solid back ends. This book shows how to hook up a Flex application to PHP back-end systems such as Drupal and OpenAds. You'll learn how various parts of the RMX were built, including the blogs, event calendar, jobs board, and advertising system—elements that come together to really showcase the power of Flex. The RMX is built by Adobe Developers for Adobe Developers—a rewarding community relationship that guarantees results. The same spirit is carried into this book, with the authors wanting and helping to take you to the next level of Flash Platform application development.
In this book you'll learn how to
Effectively plan, wireframe, specify, develop, and release large-scale Flex applications, and discover what other development tools you'll want to start using immediately
Make your Flex applications look less like Flex with advanced styling and skinning techniques
Harness advanced Flex form features, including coding validators and building your custom form components
Implement a robust advertising system for a Flex application using OpenAds
Build powerful, custom multimedia players in Flex, including video players with the native VideoDisplay class and from scratch, and music players with advanced sound visualization
Summary of Contents
PART 1 PLANNING THE RMX
Chapter 1 Introduction to Flex 2 Applications
Chapter 2 Defining the Application: Introducing the RMX
Chapter 3 Planning the Application: Building the RMX
PART 2 BUILDING THE RMX CORE FUNCTIONS
Chapter 4 Preparing to Get to Work
Chapter 5 Styling Flex
Chapter 6 Collecting and Working with Aggregated Content
Chapter 7 Secondary Navigation
Chapter 8 Forms and Validation
Chapter 9 User Communications
Chapter 10 Working with Video
Chapter 11 Advertising and Flex
PART 3 BUILDING OUT NEW FEATURES
Chapter 12 Building the Blog
Chapter 13 Building the Jobs Board
Chapter 14 Building the Event Calendar
Chapter 15 Ideas for the Future: Extending the RMX
