[Flex] Flex Builder

Introduction:

Adobe Flex Builder is the productive development tool which based on eclipse. The first version was released in 2006. It soonly become the standard of the web application development after two years. The main programming language for flex builder is actionscript, so the flash developer can easily get with it. As we know, the flash media can be played on cross-platform(thanks to the multi-platform flash player), however, the flex builder can only fully support the windows operating system (Flex Builder for linux is still under experientment). To know more about Flex Builder, please visit the official website.

To get the trial version of Flex Builder 3, please click here

Getting Started with Flex:

If you have the experience with eclipse, you don't need to spend long time for learning the basic operation in flex. To create a flex project, you just need to click "File->New->Flex Project". It's just as simple as in eclipse. I think the most difficult part is to get familiar with Actionscript (The powerful script language for developing flash media).

In flex, there are two designing mode, "source" and "design" mode. For UI design, I would like to use "Design" mode instead of the "Source" mode. In "Design" mode, what you see is what you get. The programmer can save more time to design their owe user interface. It can be done in few steps.


Flex Builder inherit the advantages of eclipse, it also can be integrated with PHP, ASP etc, not just limit to ColdFusion. For other web application designer, they can still get the benefits from using Flex Builder.

If you are looking for some flex tutorial, Adobe Flex online training video might suit for you.

Flex in a Week

Reference:

Adobe.com
Flex Builder 3 features
Adobe Flex Builder Linux Public Alpha
Flex in a Week
Adobe® Flex™ 3.3 Language Reference