Comments on: Flex Developers Are So Spoiled

By: Matt Pedersen

Matt Pedersen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:32:55 +0000

All I have to say, being one of those Flash Developers (since ‘96) is “you’re welcome” ;)

By: Austin

Austin — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:50:51 +0000

I know what you mean, I just spent countless hours building a layout manager, hbox, vbox in actionscript 2. It was pain, but it was worth it. Its kind of like dynamic xml getting rendered at runtime.

The popup forms here use it: http://www.scientology.org

By: Marcel Ray

Marcel Ray — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:38:12 +0000

You know, I’ve gotten frustrated with some aspects of Flex…such as feeling like I’m writing nothing more than XHTML+CSS and wishing for a better visual experience than the Design view. But just the other day I also realized how incredibly awesome the layout components are. I took a look at my views in progress and didn’t even waste the brain energy to imagine how I would have built such flexible layouts in Flash. Instead, I was only happy I didn’t have to!

And another way we’re spoiled (at least right now)…JOBS!!

By: Flex and Flash Developer - Jesse Warden dot Kizz-ohm » Blog Archive » Post Microsoft MIX 2008 Thoughts

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:56:12 +0000

[...] uber-geek, high level abstraction into easy to use components allow you to get stuff done. Just ask Simeon and his adventures in not-using the Flex SDK, instead trying various pure AS3 [...]

By: Joeflash’s Enigmacopaedia » Flex Websites are a Round Peg in a Square Hole (and Why Flash is Just As Good as Flex)

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 03:04:53 +0000

[...] As Flex developers we are spoiled. We have layout managers, GUI interaction managers, a component framework and a whole host of RPC communications tools that really make our lives a whole lot easier, to name a few. But that ease of use comes at a cost, and it isn’t just filesize. It comes with a programming mindset that encourages one to find the solution to a problem in the Flex framework first, and in the core ActionScript API second. This can lead to over-architecting simple applications. [...]

By: Jason Crist

Jason Crist — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 18:56:53 +0000

You’re welcome.

Seriously though, the tools are great to work with; but coming from the Flash side I have a constant nagging feeling that somebody is going to point out to me how spoiled I am now (like you just did). I have to get my hands dirty in pure AS3 now and then so that I can continue to hold my head up high.

Kind of like going back to my parent’s farm to pitch hay to remind me that not everybody has always been able to sit in a comfy chair to earn their daily bread.

By: polyGeek

polyGeek — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 17:09:41 +0000

Can you imagine the joy we Flash developers experienced when we saw things like the HBox, ItemRenderer’s, ect? My thought was, “You mean, I just fill this thing up with stuff. And I can move them around, etc, without writing any code. And they won’t fall on top of each other?” Joy-gasm!!!

By: Maxim Porges

Maxim Porges — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 23:53:14 +0000

Count me in the ranks of the spoiled, fat, happy, and Flex-ified. :)

- max

By: Randy Troppmann

Randy Troppmann — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:28:28 +0000

I have rebuilt RUNNINGMAP.com in Flash probably 4 times the latest being this fall. Now the the Yahoo! AS3 map component release I am going through another rewrite in Flex. I have built other apps in Flex but this one really hits home as to how much easier it is to build APPLICATIONS in Flex. It is a dream compared to what I just went through in Flash.

Yes, in Flash you have to invent your own layout management.

Kudos for building it in AS3. Learning stuff = good and 9kb makes the magic donkey happy.

By: Simeon

Simeon — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:20:24 +0000

You know, I tend to go with the KISS principle as well. And for any application that used binding or data or forms… the size of the framework is a blessing.

For something that is supposed to look like a header on the top of my wifes web page…Its a bit overkill. I mean come on! All I wanted to do was display some silly little images in a row. Why do I need the whole flex framework for that. And at a savings of 19 times the KB, how could I not. :)

But yes, all in all it was overkill, but I learned so SO much about the display list and the render cycle of flash player that it was more than worth it for this experiment. Look at it this way, have you ever called invalidate on the stage of a flex application? Whats a stage right? :P Well I know what that does and how to use it, so neener neener neener! LOL