Flex 4 in Action is an easy-to-follow, hands-on Flex 4 tutorial. Revised and updated from the previous edition on Flex 3, this book is chock-full of examples, goes beyond feature coverage, and helps readers put Flex to work in real day-to-day tasks. This book helps Flex developers make their Flex applications stand out from the crowd. How comprehensive is Flex 4 in Action? Interesting themes, styles, and skins? It's in there. Working with databases? You got it. Interactive forms and validation? You bet. Charting techniques to help you visualize data? Bam! Many Flex books are overwhelming to new users-focusing on the complexities of the language and super-specialized subjects in the Flex ecosystem. Flex 4 in Action filters out the noise and dives into the core topics users need every day. Using numerous easy-to-understand examples, Flex 4 in Action provides a strong foundation that readers can build on as the complexity of their projects increases. Purchase of the print book comes with an offer of a free PDF, ePub, and Kindle eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book.
Learn Adobe Flex 4 in a fun and engaging way with this book's unique, hands-on approach. Using clear examples and step-by-step coaching from two experts, you'll create four applications that demonstrate fundamental Flex programming concepts. Throughout the course of this book, you’ll learn how to enhance user interaction with ActionScript, and create and skin a user interface with Flex’s UI components (MXML) and Adobe's new FXG graphics format. You'll also be trained to manage dynamic data, connect to a database using server-side script, and deploy applications to both the Web and the desktop. Learning Flex 4 offers tips and tricks the authors have collected from years of real-world experience, and straightforward explanations of object-oriented programming concepts to help you understand how Flex 4 works. Work with Flash Builder 4 and the Eclipse IDE Learn the basics of ActionScript, MXML, and FXG Design a Flex application layout Build an engaging user interface Add interactivity with ActionScript Handle user input with rich forms Link Flex to a server with PHP and MySQL Gather and display data Style applications and add effects, filters, and transitions Deploy applications to the Web, or to the desktop using Adobe AIR
New Web applications require engaging user-friendly interfaces-and the cooler, the better. With Flex 3, Web developers at any skill level can create high-quality, effective, and interactive Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) quickly and easily. Flex removes the complexity barrier from RIA development by offering sophisticated tools and a straightforward programming language so you can focus on what you want to do instead of how to do it. And now that the major components of Flex are free and open source, the cost barrier is gone, as well! Flex 3 in Action is an easy-to-follow, hands-on Flex tutorial. Chock full of examples, this book goes beyond feature coverage and helps you put Flex to work in real day-to-day tasks. You'll quickly master the Flex API and learn to apply the techniques that make your Flex applications stand out from the crowd. Interesting themes, styles, and skins? It's in there.Working with databases? You got it. Interactive forms and validation? You bet. Charting techniques to help you visualize data? Bam! The expert authors of Flex 3 in Action have one goal - to help you get down to business with Flex 3. Fast. Many Flex books are overwhelming to new users-focusing on the complexities of the language and the super-specialized subjects in the Flex eco-system; Flex 3 in Action filters out the noise and dives into on the core topics you need every day. Using numerous easy-to-understand examples, Flex 3 In Action gives you a strong foundation that you can build on as the compexity of your projects increases. Purchase of the print book also comes with an offer of a free PDF, ePub, and Kindle eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book. You'll also get the Flex 3 in Action ebook and the Flex 4 in Action ebook upon its release both for free! Simply follow instructions on the insert to redeem your two free ebooks.
Flex 4 is an open-source tool that allows developers to easily add life to web applications with dynamic user features, colorful transitions, and eye-catching animations. Flex also provides powerful data handling for industrial-strength applications. We think it should be just as much fun to learn Flex as it is to use it. And we know that fun learning gets better results. Hello! Flex 4 demonstrates how to get started without getting bogged down in technical detail or academic edge cases. In this book, User Friendly cartoon characters offer commentary and snide side comments, as the book moves quickly from Hello World into practical techniques. Each one is illustrated with a hands-on example. Along the way, readers will build a unique Flex application that mashes Yahoo Maps with Twitter to keep track of friends. Purchase of the print book comes with an offer of a free PDF, ePub, and Kindle eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book.
With this collection of proven recipes, you have the ideal problem-solving guide for developing interactive Rich Internet Applications on the Adobe Flash Platform. You'll find answers to hundreds of common problems you may encounter when using Adobe Flex, Flex 4 Framework, or Flash Builder, Adobe's GUI-based development tool. Flex 4 Cookbook has hands-on recipes for everything from Flex basics to solutions for working with visual components and data access, as well as tips on application development, unit testing, and Adobe AIR. Each recipe provides an explanation of how and why it works, and includes sample code that you can use immediately. You'll get results fast, whether you're a committed Flex developer or still evaluating the technology. It's a great way to jumpstart your next web application. Topics include: Using Spark Component Text Layout Framework Groups and Layout Spark List and ItemRenderer Images, bitmaps, videos, and sounds CSS, styling, and skinning States and Effects Working with Collections Using DataBinding Validation, formatting, and regular expressions Using Charts Services and Data Access Using RSLs and Modules Working with Adobe AIR 2.0
A complete and thorough reference for developers on the new Flex 4 platform Create desktop applications that behave identically on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux with Adobe's new Flash Builder 4 platform and this in-depth guide. The book's tutorials and explanations walk you step-by-step through Flash Builder's new, faster tools; the new framework for generating code; how to connect to popular application servers; upgrading from Flex 3; and much more. Shows you how to create rich applications for the Web and desktop with the very latest version of Flex, with detailed coverage for both new and veteran Flex application developers Walks you through Flex basics; upgrading from Flex 3; how to create desktop applications with AIR; and integrating Flex applications with the most popular application servers, including ColdFusion, ASP.NET, and PHP Includes extensive code samples of common tasks that you can use to jump-start your development projects Flex your development muscles with the Flex 4 and this comprehensive guide.
Flexible Rails is a unique, application-based guide for using Ruby on Rails 2 and Adobe Flex 3 to build rich Internet applications (RIAs). It is not an exhaustive Ruby on Rails or Flex reference. Instead, it is an extensive tutorial in which the reader builds multiple iterations of an interesting RIA using Flex and Rails together. Author Peter Armstrong walks readers through eleven iterations in which the sample application—pomodo—is variously built, refactored, debugged, sliced, diced and otherwise explored from every conceivable angle with respect to Ruby on Rails and Adobe Flex. The book unfolds both the application and the Flex-on-Rails approach side-by-side. Purchase of the print book comes with an offer of a free PDF, ePub, and Kindle eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book.
AdvancED Flex 4 makes advanced Flex 4 concepts and techniques easy. Ajax, RIA, Web 2.0, mashups, mobile applications, the most sophisticated web tools, and the coolest interactive web applications are all covered with practical, visually oriented recipes. Completely updated for tools new to Flex 4 Demonstrates how to use Flex 4 to create robust and scalable enterprise-grade rich Internet applications Teaches you to build high-performance web applications with interactivity that really engages your users
Unlike many Flex books that presume readers want to develop applications from scratch, Flex on Java is for developers in the real world-where Flex is one more technology being added to existing systems developed in Java, and where integration is the key indicator of success. Written for Java developers beginning to use Flex, Flex on Java shows how to use Flex alongside existing Java applications, and how to integrate Flex using familiar server-side technologies such as Spring, EJBs, JMS, and more. The authors, both Agile development experts, focus on Agile and test-driven development to enable readers to redesign applications that deliver more value and with zero defects. Throughout the book, readers will apply these techniques to refactoring a single application into a rich internet application using Flex and the BlazeDS framework. Purchase of the print book comes with an offer of a free PDF, ePub, and Kindle eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book.
Well before Ajax and Microsoft's Windows Presentation Foundation hit the scene, Macromedia offered the first method for building web pages with the responsiveness and functionality of desktop programs with its Flash-based "Rich Internet Applications". Now, new owner Adobe is taking Flash and its powerful capabilities beyond the Web and making it a full-fledged development environment. Rather than focus on theory, the ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook concentrates on the practical application of ActionScript, with more than 300 solutions you can use to solve a wide range of common coding dilemmas. You'll find recipes that show you how to: Detect the user's Flash Player version or their operating system Build custom classes Format dates and currency types Work with strings Build user interface components Work with audio and video Make remote procedure calls using Flash Remoting and web services Load, send, and search XML data And much, much more ... Each code recipe presents the Problem, Solution, and Discussion of how you can use it in other ways or personalize it for your own needs, and why it works. You can quickly locate the recipe that most closely matches your situation and get the solution without reading the whole book to understand the underlying code. Solutions progress from short recipes for small problems to more complex scripts for thornier riddles, and the discussions offer a deeper analysis for resolving similar issues in the future, along with possible design choices and ramifications. You'll even learn how to link modular ActionScript pieces together to create rock-solid solutions for Flex 2 and Flash applications. When you're not sure how ActionScript 3.0 works or how to approach a specific programming dilemma, you can simply pick up the book, flip to the relevant recipe(s), and quickly find the solution you're looking for. Adobe Developer Library is a co-publishing partnership between O'Reilly Media and Adobe Systems, Inc. and is designed to produce the number one information resources for developers who use Adobe technologies. Created in 2006, the Adobe Developer Library is the official source for comprehensive learning solutions to help developers create expressive and interactive web applications that can reach virtually anyone on any platform. With top-notch books and innovative online resources covering the latest in rich Internet application development, the Adobe Developer Library offers expert training and in-depth resources, straight from the source.
