> And while I'm on the topic of CF -- I still really don't understand why I need it...
Let me see if I can answer this more directly. Flex is a powerful language, but it can't do everything. Typically, an application server can do things that Flex can't. Say like write files to the filesystem, talk to databases (as noted), load special libraries web service APIs, libraries for audio or video, talk to other web services, coordinate information/objects between two two Flex clients. Consider writing a chat application without a server. How would the users find each other if they didn't have a server? How could you monitor if another users was offline? Without a Server you can't do this. And using a database for this is like trying to hammer a screw in a board. It's just not the right tool. There are constraints on Flex as well. Flex applications can't talk to random web servers. This is to prevent all sorts of security problems and to protect the users of your application. Applications servers can provide a gateway to mash up data from disparate web servers which Flex can't do. Plus it provides a public place for users to coordinate activites that things like VPNs, Firewalls, and other various internet baddies prevent. Why doesn't Flex have direct access to the DB? Let's say we have did have a way to talk directly to the database with our Flex application. That would mean your database would have to be directly accessible to the entire internet or else your users couldn't use your application. This is a serious security problem for your database since anyone could write a client that talks to your database without using your software. At least with an application server you can choose what you expose to the internet, and impose a layer of security in front of that application. This is a lot of info, but I hope it's helped. Charlie On Mon, Apr 6, 2009 at 5:14 PM, Laurence MacNeill <[email protected]>wrote: > Hi. > > I just signed up to this discussion list, hoping I can find some answers. > > My name is Laurence MacNeill, and I live in Mableton (just West of Atlanta, > about a mile outside I-285). I've been trying to learn Flex for a little > while now -- I bought a couple of books, one of which is "Training From the > Source: Adobe Flex 3." I have ColdFusion 8 installed on the computer I'm > using to learn Flex -- this computer will eventually be a server for the app > I'm trying to learn how to write. > > The book includes a "run-time" version of CF, but I cannot use that since > CF8 is already installed on the machine. So I need to know if anyone has > used this book, and can tell me how to "convert" the examples in the book to > work with CF8 installed on the machine. (Beginning in Chapter 17, they > expect the "run-time" CF server to be running, thus none of the examples > will work from that point on, because I cannot run their version of the CF > server.) > > And while I'm on the topic of CF -- I still really don't understand why I > need it... I'm a total newb to Flex, as you can probably tell, and I'm > still unclear on many aspects of it -- especially why I can't just talk to > the SQL server directly. I have posted on the Adobe forums, but still > really haven't gotten a clear answer as to why Flex can't talk to the SQL > server itself. > > Am I going to have to learn CF in addition to Flex, if I want to be able to > use MS-SQL to store my data? Or is it just a simple matter of telling CF > where the SQL source is, and then the Flex program will do the rest of the > work? > > I hope someone here can get me started on this -- it just seems so overly > complicated right now. > > Thanks, > L. > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from this list, simply email the list with unsubscribe in > the subject line > > For more info, see http://www.affug.com > Archive @ http://www.mail-archive.com/discussion%40affug.com/ > List hosted by http://www.fusionlink.com > ------------------------------------------------------------- > > >
