Let’s say you have developed a custom component in Flex that inherits from <mx:Panel> and handles user login functionality. This component lives in its own Flex project. Now let’s say you create a new MXML application that will take advantage of the login component so you “Add SWC” in the project’s Library Path and add [...]

I noticed this the other day so there is apparently a practice test out there  (to buy) for Flex certification wanna-bes. It made me think back to my Java certification many years ago where I bought flash cards, cert specific books and took many online practice exams. I passed the test, opened up an IDE and said to [...]

I fired up Flex Builder 3 Beta 2 this morning and was greeted with this: I installed the Beta 2 version of Flex Builder the instant it was available as I was writing code for the Flex 3 Getting Started Experience. With the release of FB3 still a ways off I needed a fix. Luckily, if you [...]

I have been meaning to study the Flex code itself for some time now. I have one less excuse now that I’ve learned how easy it is to see the code while working in Flex Builder. Previously I had been digging into the directory structure of the code and hunting around – but I’ve learned a [...]

I believe a valid strategy for  independent developer would be to specialize in porting flash applications from earlier versions of actionscript to v 3.0. The shift is a big one, enough to warrant a totally new flash player 9. The business case for porting a flash application to AS3 is spelled out perfectly with this [...]

Declarative programming has a few different meanings but to me it boils down to XAML and MXML which are XML dialects used to “declare” UI components. The oft-touted benefit of XML is that it is “both human and machine readable” and I feel that XAML and MXML may be better suited to the machine side. [...]

I learned Actionscript 3.0 while developing Flex applications in Flex Builder. But currently I am out of Flex and into Flash and to me the biggest gift from Flash CS3 is AS3. Granted, if you opt for AS3 in a new FLA (by selecting New/ Flash File – Actionscript 3.0 or specifying AS3 in the [...]

I’ve been tasked with refactoring some flash code with an eye towards applying some OOP principles to it. The application is an interactive web animation and in a nutshell it contains some library symbols that are dynamically added to the stage via AttachMovieClip() as instructed by an XML data file. The application is started and driven via [...]

We at Trilemetry are truly a virtual office. We all work in disparate locations and communicate mostly via email and Skype with an occasional phone conferencing service if we have large numbers of folks during any particular meeting. We often chat over an Adobe Connect shared desktop to view code or other creative efforts. So it [...]

Yesterday I had the need to create a little object to animate on a Canvas. I created an Actionscript class that inherits from Sprite. Sprites are similar to Movieclips but have no timeline… package {  import flash.display.Sprite;  public class Widget extends Sprite  {  ….. Then in my Flex Application I created an instance of the [...]