I’ve conducted a small study recently, trying to figure out if we could evolve in our Flash RIA development somehow. I’ve read and experimented a lot with Flex, MXML and related tools to see if we’re missing something (we’re not using it very much today).
It’s not that we’re unhappy with how things are done now, but with the new Flex 4 and everything associated to it, I’ve felt that there’s an opportunity to make some improvements to our workflow.
Summing it up
As presented below, there are a few conclusions to be drawn here, for example:
- Flex 4 seems to be a really nice upgrade and probably something you can’t ignore in the end.
- There’s little information on the web about development of large Flash/RIA applications (like those we do). Pretty much all focus is on Flex development of small-to-medium sized applications. I’m not to speculate on the reasons why no one is spreading the word, but hope that my work can shed some light on the area.
- There’s a lot of fuzz around the Adobe products in general and Flex in particular. Very few seem to have any criticism at all when it comes to Flex, which is a bit disturbing, as nothing that looks too good to be true ever is. But maybe I’ve just been looking at the wrong side of the web? Just a reflection…
Presentation of findings
I held an in-house presentation on my findings yesterday, and I thought I’d better share it with the world (= your favourite search engine). I’ve stripped it down a bit, as there were some company specific things in there, but most of it is free for everyone to read.
A few things to consider before jumping in, though:
- This is a PowerPoint (well, OpenOffice actually) slide with notes. There was lots said when presenting each slide, so I can’t guarantee that you’ll learn everything I said. I understand this is not perfect, but figured that it’s better to upload this than nothing.
- It’s just plain slides with notes, really. I did have some imagery in the original slides, but left it out as it’s probably only needed as “distraction” when viewed on a large screen with me talking next to it. So don’t get mad if it’s boring!
- The plan wasn’t actually to hold an in-house presentation, but I figured it was a good idea. So the format on which it is presented may or may not be optimal, as it’s pretty much been summarized as I’ve went along. It could be a good idea to shape it up and make it a bit better, but at the moment, it’s more important just getting it “out there”.
The presentation itself
With that having been said – and my back having been covered 
– here it is (also available as a PDF):
[gview file="http://blog.sommestad.net/wp-content/2009/10/Catching_up_with_Flex_public.pdf" width=538]
EDIT: Also added the presentation to SlideShare.
Good presentation. But regarding _large_ Flash applications, I think it may be difficult to find information on that because you typically don’t do large Flash applications. I’d say that it’s often a better idea to mix HTML and Flash instead of using Flash for everything.
Thanks for the comment, Martin!
Agreed, it’s generally good to mix Flash with HTML, especially for parts of the application where Flash isn’t required/doesn’t bring anything extra to it (i.e. settings, account details etc). One should always make sure to apply the different techniques where most suitable, with everything from user experience to technical requirements in consideration.
With “large” Flash applications, I was mainly having web client games – Club Penguin and even Farmville, for example – in mind. Our own DiceArena dice games and arcade games are of course in this category as well.
[...] EDIT: I’ve posted a presentation about Flex (and MXML). [...]
Really nice to get a quick overview. I guess the next step is to try it on for size, say with a mid size project? Maybe even get Catalyst into the process?
Yes, we discussed this further after the presentation and agreed that it’s probably best to 1) make sure other developers learn more about Flex and 2) try it out in a small or mid-sized project.