New To Flex Development - Know What It Is And 5 Benefits Of Using It

By Author: aaric sage
Total Articles: 9
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Websites and desktops are rapidly moving in the rich internet application development direction. Flex development along with many other platforms is used for adding rich internet applications to a website. But what are rich internet applications? Have you ever felt amazed at the visual effects of a site where different images flash one after the other, or where the image looks more like a video? Such applications are possible only through RIA development.

A combination of high level technologies and tools can result in RIA development. In present day world three different types of platforms are available and they are Adobe Flex/Flash, Ajax and Microsoft Silverlight. Each has some of the best features which make it difficult to judge which one is the best. However personally I feel which one is the best varies depending on the skills of a developer. Many Developers find flex development to be the best.

Here do not get confused between Adobe Flash and Adobe Flex because though the applications developed using them look very much ...
... similar they are still different from each other in many respects. More people are familiar with Flash as compared to Flex development and almost 98% internet users have Flex installed in their computers. Big corporate names use Flash based rich internet applications to promote their products. But it also has its limitations which are overcome in Adobe Flex.

Flex development would mean using a collection of web tools, technologies and run time environments to create better RIA solutions. It includes Adobe's Integrated Runtime (AIR), Flex SDK and Add-on Components, Adobe Flash Player Runtime, Flex Builder and Server Side Integration Service. A Flex developer can create very good applications with nice code and design without using movie timeline or key frame.

Flex SDK
It includes Flex compiler and component library which are useful to enhance the process of rich internet application development. Since it is a free source it can be downloaded for free and installed in IDE.

Flex Builder
It is an eclipse based tool which facilitates astute coding, interactive step by step debugging, creating apt design of the end users behavior and interface. The cream on the coffee is it includes support for developing desktop applications.

Adobe Runtimes
Adobe Flex has two runtimes Flash Player and Integrated. Flash player runtime is browser plug in and integrated run time is useful for desktop applications.

Server Side Integration Service
It helps Flex to seamlessly merge in the existing backend system like PHP, Java or .Net for uninterrupted exchange of data.

All this of course makes Flex one of the best RIA development platform. If you are a developer and feel that Flex has immense potential then here are 5 different benefits you should consider for shifting to Flex development:

1) Learning a new programming language is a difficult job but with Flex it is different. It is less complicated and so very easy to grasp. Flex is very much similar to Java with similar style, structure and syntax.

2) Innumerable good features make it ideal for developing enterprise level applications

3) Cairngorm and Mate are two incredible Flex frameworks. The former is command driven and the latter is event driven. These platforms help implement MVC design pattern.

4) Adobe Flash Player runtime makes it cross browser compatible. Flex developers can concentrate more on developing unbelievable applications and think less of compatibility.

5) Flex components like Charts, DataGrid, RichTextEditor, ProgressBar, Accordion, Slider etc make Flex development much easy.