1. AN INTRODUCTION
TO APACHE FLEX
April 3rd 2013
DU ASIS&T TechBytes
Joseph Labrecque

2. JOSEPH LABRECQUE
Senior Interactive Software Engineer | Adjunct Faculty
University of Denver
Proprietor | Owner
Fractured Vision Media, LLC
Adobe Community Professional
Adobe Education Leader
Adobe Certified Expert
Adobe Certified Educator
Adobe Influencer
Author
Packt Publishing | O’Reilly Media | video2brain | Adobe Press | Peachpit
Artist
An Early Morning Letter, Displaced | shivervein

3. WHAT WE’LL COVER…
• What is Flex?
• Macromedia/Adobe/Apache Flex History
• Adobe’s Donation to ASF
• Apache Flex: Incubation
• Apache Flex: Top-Level-Project
• Apache Flex: Future

4. WHAT IS
FLEX?

5. MXML
• XML-based user interface markup language.
• Declaratively build out application
interfaces.
• Data binding via {}
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx=http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml
layout="absolute“>
<mx:Label text="Hello World!" fontSize="48"
letterSpacing="1"></mx:Label>
</mx:Application>

6. ACTIONSCRIPT 3
• Dialect of ECMAScript 4
• Open source, object-oriented language.
• Compiled for Flash Player and AIR.
package com.example
{
import flash.text.TextField;
import flash.display.Sprite;
public class Greeter extends Sprite
{
public function Greeter()
{
var txtHello:TextField = new TextField();
txtHello.text = "Hello World";
addChild(txtHello);
}
}
}

7. RICH COMPONENTS
• Rich Internet Applications
• Mobile Applications
• 3rd Party

8. TOOLING
• Flash Builder
• IntelliJ IDEA
• FDT
• FlashDevelop
• And more!

9. FLEX @ DU

10. FLEX @ DU

11. FLEX @ DU

12. FLEX @ DU

13. FLEX @ DU

14. FLEX @ DU

15. MACROMEDIA
ADOBE
APACHE
FLEX
HISTORY

16. MACROMEDIA FLEX 1.0
• $15,000 per server!
• Compile to SWF on request
• Flex Builder IDE

17. ADOBE FLEX 2.0
• Flex SDK = FREE!
• Compile to SWF locally
• Flex Builder based on Eclipse
• ActionScript 3 introduced
• Flash Player 9 introduced
• Adobe acquires Macromedia at this time.

18. ADOBE FLEX 3.0
• Flex SDK open sourced and released under
Mozilla Public License
• Community code contributions through
Adobe gatekeepers
• Adobe AIR introduced
• Flex Builder profiling tools

19. ADOBE FLEX 4.0
• Flex Builder = Flash Builder
• New Spark component architecture
• Flash Catalyst integration
• Text Layout Framework
• Flash Player 10

20. ADOBE FLEX 4.5
• Mobile support!
– Android
– iOS
– TabletOS
• Mobile Components
• Multiscreen

21. ADOBE’S
DONATION
TO ASF

22. NOVEMBER 9 2011
• Adobe stops development on Flash Player for
mobile devices (Android) in browser.
• Flash Player development on desktops
continues.
• Adobe AIR development on desktop and
mobile (Android, iOS, Blackberry) continues.
• Adobe decides to contribute Flex to Apache
just as it did with PhoneGap (Apache
Cordova).

23. WHY DONATE FLEX?
• “Adobe believes that Flex is the best solution
for enterprise and data-centric application
development today, and that moving Flex
into a community-driven open source project
ensures the continued development and
success of Flex for years to come.”
• “Adobe will provide a team of Flex SDK
engineers who will contribute to and support
the Apache Flex Project full time.”

24. APACHE FLEX:
INCUBATION

25. DECEMBER 30 2011
• Flex is accepted into “incubation” status.
• Allows for a testing period under ASF.
• Are people committed?
• Is the project viable?
• Can they do it?

26. APACHE FLEX 4.8
• Specifically: “Apache Flex 4.8.0-incubating”
• Parity release with Adobe Flex 4.6
• No new functionality introduced.
• A test release to be sure Flex is viable under
the Apache Software Foundation model.

27. WHERE’S 4.7?
• The “4.7” version number is reserved for
Adobe in case they need to make an
additional release.
• This is probably never going to happen.

28. APACHE FLEX:
TOP LEVEL PROJECT

29. DECEMBER 19 2012
• Top Level Project (TLP)
• Signifying that the
project's community
and products have
been well-governed
under the ASF's
meritocratic process
and principles.
• Official Apache Flex
Website!

30. APACHE FLEX 4.9
• First release as a top level project!
• 7 Release Candidate builds!
• Compatible with both 4.8 and 4.6
• PostCodeFormatter, PostCodeValidator
• VectorList, VectorCollection
• TLF 3.0.33
• Flash Player versions support (10.2 to
11.5)
• Bug Fixes

31. APACHE FLEX 4.9.1
• Fixed some issues with 4.9 locales.
• Further bug fixes.

32. FLEX SDK INSTALLER
• For those who don’t want
to compile from source :)
• AIR based application
• Installs Apache Flex
• Installs optional libs

33. APACHE FLEX:
FUTURE

34. WHAT NEXT?
• Apache Flex 5.0
• Falcon Compiler
• Alternative output
– FalconJS
– FalconJx
– FlexJS
– ASJS
– RandoriAS

35. CLOSING

36. RESOURCES
• Apache Flex:
http://flex.apache.org/
• Apache Flex Mailing List Archive:
http://markmail.org/search/+list:org.apache.inc
ubator.flex-dev
• Adobe's view of Flex and its commitments to
Flex in the future:
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/whitepaper
s/roadmap.html
• Flash Runtimes Roadmap:
http://adobe.com/go/flashplayer_roadmap

37. THANK YOU
Get in touch…
Twitter: @JosephLabrecque
Email: Joseph.Labrecque@du.edu
Web: http://JosephLabrecque.com/

38. Join us at Adobe MAX 2013
May 4-8, 2013 Using Edge Animate to Create a
Los Angeles Convention Center Reusable Component Set
and Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE Monday 3:30 PM - 511B
Join us at MAX for three days of fresh inspiration, Register now at max.adobe.com.
connection, and hands-on training. Plus, receive a
complimentary annual membership to Adobe®
Creative Cloud™.

39. Community Compilation CD
Download for free: http://fracturedvisionmedia.com/FVM008/