Macromedia Flex Overview

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Macromedia Flex Overview
Macromedia Flex Overview
Stephen Rittler Manager, Philadelphia Area
ColdFusion User Group srittler_at_exostechnology.com
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Agenda

• Why do we need Flex?
• What is Flex?
• Example (light on syntax, heavy on concept)
• What do I need, and what do I need to know?
• Q A
• Please jump in with questions anytime
• Im under NDA, so go easy on me!

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Why do we need Flex?

• Continuation of Macromedias Experience Matters
  campaign
• The web is growing beyond information
• The web is growing beyond simple services
• Web users are now expecting the same experience
  they get in the physical world in the virtual
  one.
• Common Example
• Coffee in your kitchen
• Coffee at the gas station
• Coffee at Starbucks

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Why do we need Flex?
Flash Remoting was a great first step, but its
not an easy step for enterprise developers to
take. Flex is a means for enabling traditional
developers to take advantage of the rich client
environment without completely relearning how to
program. Macromedia is leading the way in
simplifying the lives of developers when it comes
to architecting the new internet experience.
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What is Flex?

• Flex is a Presentation Server
• Sits on top of your existing application server
  (J2EE/CF/.NET)
• Allows you to create RIAs in a format similar to
  HTML apps
• A server-side means for generating rich
  client-side web applications

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What is Flex?
Flex Presentation Server
Flex Application Framework
MXML
ActionScript
Flex Class Library
Flex Runtime Services
J2EE/CF/.NET Application Server
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How does Flex work?

• Create MXML files in your code editor of choice
• Just like CFML
• Drop these MXML files on the server
• Just like ColdFusion
• Flex will parse, interpret, compile, and cache
• Just like ColdFusion
• and return an HTML document with an embedded SWF
  containing your application!
• Whoa! Cool!

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Standards.

• XML Lovin it.
• CSS? Supported.
• Got Flash designers? Use their components in
  Flex!
• Know MVC? This is the missing piece.
• SOAP Easy data in/data out. Every component.
• Playing with SVG? Drop it on in!
• JSP or Java beans? Flex will complement your
  app nicely.
• Standards are viewed as a strong selling point in
  the enterprise.
• Macromedia is openly embracing standards to push
  the Flex platform out as pervasively as the Flash
  player.

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MXML

• MXML A current codename for the language you
  will use with Flex
• Is structured like an XML document
• Tag-basedso not that much unlike CF in that
  regard
• Allows for piece-of-cake data binding
• Looks suspiciously like ASP.NET -)

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MXML Sample code
Stolen from http//www.markme.com/cc/archives/003
901.cfm see attached file mxml_sample.mxml
What were looking at is a sample Flex Blog
reader application. 50 lines of code and a rich
interface Christophe Coenraets is the
Macromedia Evangelist for Flexcheck out his blog
for the latest on Flex
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What do I need?

• Development Tools
• Macromedia Brady
• Due out early 2004
• Based on Dreamweaver core
• Eclipse plugin will be available as well
• Notepad will work just fine too
• XML schema will be openly available

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What do I need?

• Server products
• An application server
• ColdFusion
• J2EE
• .NET (late 2004?)
• A web server
• Same old, same old

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What do I need?

• Personal skills
• Brush up on XML rules and syntax!
• Actionscript 2.0 if you want to do cool stuff
• Knowledge of Service Oriented Architecture
  development environments (SOAP, XML, Web
  Services)

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In closing
Will this replace ColdFusion? No! Next
ColdFusion Blackstone may very well have
parts of Flex built in to it! Will it compete
with ColdFusion? Probably not. Hybrid CF/Flash
Remoting apps will linger on because theyre
cheap! Flex Application server will not be
free. Remember, not all apps must be
RIAs ColdFusion is perfectly capable of
providing SOAP-based web services to Flex
applicationstheyll play very nicely together in
the new standards-based web application
environment.
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In closing
Flex could represent the next best way for
deploying Flash-based applications on the
web. The sooner we all start thinking less
procedural and more object oriented, the easier
the transition will beand the better your CF
code will be as well. Expect to see a lot of
Java developers rolling around in MXML!
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Links

• More Information
• This presentation based on information conveyed
  at MAX and in other publicly-available forums
• http//www.macromedia.com/software/flex/productin
  fo/brz_overview/
• http//www.markme.com/cc/
• http//www.artima.com/weblogs/index.jsp?bloggerp
  sneville
• PACFUG will be hosting people to talk about Flex
  as we ascertain its impact on the CF community.
• The Philadelphia Developer Network will be
  hosting hands-on workshops in the spring as soon
  as Flex is released.
• This Presentation
• Macromedia Flex An Overview
• http//www.pacfug.org/presentations.cfm