Having come from a background of bespoke database-driven development where
bare functionality is the primary consideration above gloss, I can say that
Flex is a breath of fresh air.
For many companies flash is dismissed as a serious contender for "serious"
work because as those companies know, flash is just for silly animations and
froth. There's always been a barrier to using flash for serious development
in large companies because it's not regarded as a 'serious' development
platform and those companies will go with Microsoft technologies or use
Java. Flex is the development system that can appeal to those companies
because the development teams that work in those companies can understand
it's paradigm and they understand the toolset and language.
This isn't some anti-flash statement it's just the way things are.
Traditional developers don't understand the timeline, don't want to
understand it and want a development system that works like the 'serious'
languages they are used to. Flex gives them that and as a bonus it gives
them the sophisticated effects and UI they didn't have access to before. It
allows them to work with the server-side technologies they are used to and
they don't get the ribbing they would be prone to if they suggested using
flash for a front-end.
This is a Flash forum and everything seems to be being discussed as though
Flex is some kind of Flash killer or replacement. It isn't and Flex goes
where flash has not trod.
Flex is really complimentary to flash, not a replacement. There are always
going to be superb flash sites with timeline animation and all kinds of
bells and whistles. Flex doesn't compete with that. If a Flex developer
want's things that are better done in flash they'll use flash and integrate
that component with flex.
You can write badly in Flex. You can write badly in Flash. You can just
write badly even without either Flex or Flash.
Flex and Flash fit different niches with a broad crossover between them.
It's not Flex vs. Flash - it's Flex, Flex and Flash or just Flash, depending
on what you want to achieve.
Paul
----- Original Message -----
From: "Merrill, Jason" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Flash Coders List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 4:14 PM
Subject: RE: [Flashcoders] Flex vs. Flash
Sure - I mean again, it just comes down to what KIND of sites you are
comparing - a cool site RIA could be equally cool as a cool 3D Flash site
like EcoDaZoo (which was done with Papervision3d by the way, and could
have been done in Flex - if there was a need for the Flex framework) - but
comparing one site with another for "coolness" is really subjective, it's
like comparing apples and oranges. If a site dynamically allows product
selection interactions with effects was seen as "cool" - and a site like
EcoDaZoo was done with Flash + Papervision and is thought of as "cool",
well, which one is "cooler"? You can't do the comparision because they
are completely different types of sites.
Yes, for sites that have a lot of UI "zing" - animations and effects, and
really wild transitions and layouts, well, Flex would not be the best
choice. That's why you have to decide which tool is best for what kind of
project you have.
Jason Merrill
Bank of America Instructional Technology & Media ยท GCIB & Staff
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