If you're developing on Windows, FlashDevelop gives you a pretty good no-cost option, and lets you code for Flash (pure as3), Flex, or Haxe (which is really quite good and lets you directly target swf or as3 source code, or, via OpenFL gives you swf/air/js/c++ targets from the same flash api based Haxe code - including android and iOS ). FlasCC gives you ways to re-use c++ code as highly optimized swf bytecode whereas Haxe/OpenFL gives you ways to create native c++ apps using the same/similar flash api in Haxe code.
Flex on the other hand is an awesome, fully loaded RIA "construction kit". I use FlashBuilder mostly for Flex, but I know many (like Gary) who swear by IntelliJ. Flex is great for certain things, but it has been criticised in the past for being bloated and slow. And it can be. But as with most things there are usually ways to optimize when it's possible or distract the user when it's not. I think the main concern in the recent past was mobile performance (and size) with Flex. These concerns are easing with the rapid advances in the mobile space. I use FlashDevelop primarily for Haxe, but it is also very good for pure as3 (not so great for mxml, although it's been a long time since I tried that, so it may now be better than it was). Flash professional is a tool that is mainly focused on the design elements/assets, including timeline based animations etc. But you can code with it too, a lot of as3 developers started out with this. But most people I know prefer to code in a dedicated editor, and based on what you described I expect you would too, the coding support in Flash is still quite basic. Nothing conclusive there, just more options to consider. But if you want to try a no-cost approach, consider giving FlashDevelop a whirl... and then choose something more if you need it. Whether you should use Flex or not depends on how much your app could leverage the Flex component set - not easy to advise based on your description. If you decide not to use Flex, then FlashDevelop might be all you need. Greg Dove Dove Software Development Ltd http://greg-dove.com On Thu, Jul 11, 2013 at 2:54 PM, Dennis Raddle <dennis.rad...@gmail.com>wrote: > Is Flash Builder a good tool for ActionScript development, or is there > something better? I don't want to pay for more than one tool. I'm a > C++/Python programmer so I'm comfortable working in code. > > Dennis > > > On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 7:36 PM, Gary Young <flashflex...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > My answer is YES, Flash Platform is the only one can cross most desktop > > browsers and Android/IOS apps, others are just fake. Use Flex when 1) > your > > app will use a lot of standard components; 2) your app has highly complex > > user interactions. -Gary > > > > >
