What is Adobe Flex? Is it just Flash II?

Question

Question

Well, all the words and the press release confused me. The battle continues.

• What is the relationship between flash and flex:
  • Replace flash (not fully compatible)
  • Flash enhancement
  • The next version of the flash, but still mostly compatible
  • Separate technology in general
  • ???
• If I'm starting out in Flash right now, should I just upgrade to Flex?

Following actions

Okay, so I hear that there are three different parts to the puzzle:

• Flash
  • The graphics editor used to create "Flash movies", i.e. this is an IDE that focuses on the visual aspect of "Flash" (officially Flash CS3?).
  • The official name of the display plugins (i.e., "Download Flash Now!")
  • General link to the entire technology stack
  • In terms of an editor, this is a timeline-based linear editor most suitable for animations with complex interactivity.
• Actionscript
  • The programming language "Flash"
• Flex
  • Adobe Flash IDE, which focuses on the coding / programming aspect of Flash (Flex Builder?).
  • Flash library that improves Flash and simplifies its programming (Flex SDK?)
  • It is not attached to the timeline (like the Flash IDE), and therefore the "standard" applications are more easily run.

Is it correct?

-Adam

Answer 1

Adobe Flex Builder is an Adobe IDE for developing applications that will run in the Flash plugin. The Flex SDK refers to the libraries that developers use to write applications.

Essentially, the term “Flex” is the development side, and “Flash” is the temporary side of Adobe technology.

Correction: The term "Flash" is also used to refer to the Flash IDE that designers use.

Answer 2

The term Flash may include any of the other terms defined below, and I believe that saying “Flash” without specifying what you mean can be misleading and misleading. Example: I'm not sure what you mean when you say "Flash" in your question. Is this a flash player? Author's tool? Or the whole set of technologies that fall under what Adobe calls the "Flash Platform"? To clarify all this, let me define the technologies involved in creating Flash and Flex content, so that we all use the same terminology here:

Flash Player is a runtime environment for multimedia content in a browser. There is also Flash Lite for launching Flash content on older or younger mobile devices, and Adobe AIR extends Flash Player so content authors can publish their own desktop and mobile applications that can integrate with things like the file system, window systems, and device sensors such as an accelerometer and a camera. Collectively, Adobe refers to them as Flash Runtime .

Flash Professional (often referred to as the Flash development tool or Flash IDE ) has traditionally been the primary application used to create content that runs on Flash Player. He is very focused on designers with graphics, layers and visual drawing tools. Software developers may find this application disorienting and limited compared to other development tools that are more focused on code, such as Flash Builder (see below). When someone says, “I created something with Flash,” they often mean the Flash development tool, but this is not always the case. For this reason, it is always helpful to clarify in order to avoid confusion.

ActionScript is the main programming language supported by Adobe to customize Flash runtime. The current version is ActionScript 3 (abbreviated AS3 ), which is supported with Flash Player 9. Content created in older versions of ActionScript can still be run in recent versions of Flash Player, but new features are only supported when using ActionScript 3 to create new content .

Flex is a set of technologies designed to create rich applications focused on the battery life of Adobe Flash. Although the phrase “Flex” previously had the same ambiguity as “Flash,” the Flex brand name is increasingly focusing on the Flex and SDK structure described below.

The Flex SDK consists of compilers, a command line debugger, and the Flex framework. Included compilers: 1. MXMLC, ActionScript and MXML compiler to output the final SWF file for deployment in Flash Player. 2. COMPC, a static library compiler for ActionScript that outputs SWC files. 3. ASDOC, a documentation generator based on compiler technology.

The Flex framework is a collection of ActionScript classes designed to create Rich Internet Applications. It includes elements such as user interface controls, web services and other connection classes, formatting and validators, drag and drop, modal window and component states. These classes are in the mx package. *. Typically, when developers say "Flex" without any qualifying information, they mean the Flex structure, not the product formerly known as Flex Builder.

In 2011, Adobe donated the Flex SDK to the Apache Software Foundation. Now called Apache Flex , it is fully community-driven, not Adobe. However, Adobe employees continue to contribute to the project, and Flash Builder (see below) continues to support the new SDKs released by the Apache Flex project.

MXML is an XML-based markup language used by Flex compilers to simplify the layout and placement of components in containers. The XML tree structure simplifies the visualization of the containment hierarchy. MXML is actually converted to ActionScript during the compilation process.

Flash Builder (formerly known as Flex Builder ) is a development environment that allows developers to create various types of projects to create SWF files that are deployed while Flash is running. It is built on the Eclipse platform and is better known to software developers. Flash Builder supports projects created using Flex or pure ActionScript. Flex projects include the Flex infrastructure. ActionScript projects are the most basic projects you can work with, starting with one class and an empty canvas, and Flex frames are not included.

Flash Builder does not replace Flash Professional. Some people who have traditionally used Flash Professional can now use Flash Builder instead. Often these are software developers who appreciate or require the advanced development tools offered by Flash Builder, or do not work heavily with assets created in the visual tool. Some developers can write their code in Flash Builder, while choosing to compile their projects in the Flash development tool. Often these developers are also designers or work with other people who are designers. In this situation, there can be many graphical assets created in the Flash development tool, and it can be difficult or simply inappropriate to bring them to another environment.

The Flex framework is specifically designed for building applications. It includes many traditional format control elements (buttons, lists, datagrids, etc.), and most of the code is executed in an extended component framework written in ActionScript. Not everyone creates content that Flex is designed to create, and Flex doesn't replace traditional Flash development methods for everyone. This is the best approach for some developers, but it may not be suitable for others. More designer websites, such as those created for movies, music, energy drinks, advertising campaigns, etc., should probably not use the Flex framework. These types of content may be better suited to Flash Professional or a clean ActionScript project in Flash Builder. Similarly, the small widgets that you place on the sidebar of your website or your profile on a social networking website may need to be built using pure ActionScript (without the Flex framework) because they require a smaller file size, and they probably don’t need a large complex component architecture designed for large applications. When setting up the Flash runtime, you must choose a development environment, framework, and workflow based on the requirements and goals of the project.

Answer 3

Yes, I, too, was confused for a while with this.

Flex, apparently, is its name for the IDE Flex Builder (based on Eclipse) and the general approach to creating flash files using mxml and ActionScript, rather than ordinary flash tools.

I think that the approach of mxml and ActionScript (i.e. Flex) is intended to attract more programmers, where, since the Flash side is designed more to appeal to graphic designers.

The end result of either approach is a .swf file that can be run in the browser’s flash movie plugin (although using Flex you can set Adobe Air’s runtime if you want to access the file system and start offline mode, etc.). .

My advice would be if you come from a background of programming to start with Flex.

Answer 4

What is the difference between Flex and Flash?

The way I keep this in my head and explain to others is as follows:

Choose the right tool for what you want to create.

If you want to write APPLICATION using Flash technology, use Flex.

If you want to create ANIMATION using Flash technology, use traditional Flash.

Flex is optimized for building the application (but you can create primitive animations using states), and it compiles into SWF.

Flash is optimized for building animations, but you can also create applications with some extra work and compile into SWF.

Once you have SWF, you can play Flash Player, although Flex requires Flash 9 or higher.

Finally

Application → Flex → SWF

Animation-> Flash → SWF

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Part of the confusion is that “Flash” means a few things. Flash can mean one of many applications, or a common technology for SWF.

Here's the Flash CS3 that Adobe sells. This is typically designer-oriented and uses a chronological-based approach to create SWF. Previously, a Flash product was the only way to create SWF files, and SWFs were usually used only for animation and other visual effects that would otherwise be impossible in the browser.

Then Flash Player will appear. This is the application / plugin used to run SWF. SWF can also be wrapped in a "Projector", which allows them to run as a standalone application, but this is not so common.

At some point (I don’t know when) Flash began to be used for more interactive applications. Flash is not well suited to work because it was designed to create animations. Recognizing this, Macromedia created Flex . Flex is another development environment for creating SWF, but it is more focused on developers than designers. The latest version of Flex 3 . The Flex SDK is freely available and includes a command line compiler, debugger, and class libraries. Adobe also provides (for purchase) the Flex Builder application, based on the Eclipse IDE for creating SWFs using Flex. There are several free IDEs for using Flex, especially FlashDevelop , although I don’t know any that provide a visual designer for MXML, the markup language used by Flex to define user interfaces or the visual wrapper for a debugger.

If you are approaching Flash from a developer's perspective, then you might want to use Flex. This is probably much closer to what you're used to dealing with, and it seems like this is how Adobe clicks Flash in general.

Answer 6

Flash is a runtime . You use the Flash Authoring tool to create some Flash content, and the Flash player processes your content, runs scripts, and draws the appropriate images on the screen.

Flex is a development framework . You use Flex development tools to determine how your component content should work, and then Flex generates Flash content for you. You could do the same with Flash Authoring tools, but using Flex can help you avoid reusing some wheels.

In functional terms, Flash is an extremely versatile runtime; it gives you a lot of freedom to do whatever you want. But if you're building a loan simulator, you probably don't need the freedom to determine exactly how all the drop-down menus and screens work. You will probably prefer that you can simply use the off-the-shelf components for this material to focus on the loan material. Flex allows you to do this, with costs that can be very useful if you decide that you need more freedom to change all the small details.

Answer 7

Here's another simple look based on how you describe the application you want to develop.

Do you want it to have high-level user interface capabilities from a workstation application (such as Windows) with a fairly complete set of controls (listbox, combobox, grid, etc.)?

Flex provides you with this.

Do you want to deliver it to run in most browsers (i.e. where is Flash installed or installed)?

Flex gives you this because it runs on a Flash virtual machine.

You also want to be able to offer it to run in the OS, and not in the browser (with minimal changes in the encoding?)

Flex can give you this by letting you run it, not in Flash VM, but instead in VMware Adobe AIR (which has versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux), which provides shells for common OS resources such as the file system, Components OS dialog box interface (for example, "Open / File / etc.")

Are you using javascript well as a development language? You should be, because it is the only language supported in the form of ActionScript, which is a proper superset of javascript - it takes javascript code directly.

So, the partial parts:

• The runtime is either a Flash browser plugin or the AIR runtime (equivalent to native OS).

• ActionScript as a development language.

• Many libraries of controls and other resources, i.e. typical windows, frames, combinations, list, image container, text fields, text files, wysiwyg-y RichTextArea, etc.). This is the province of Flex.

Using the above resources, you can use the free command-line compiler to create applications in the same way as with any other command-line compiler language with libraries.

Then, if you need an IDE fantasy, there is Flex Builder, which is a set of extensions for good-ol 'Eclipse (for a few hundred $$). Or there are several other IDEs that are more or less equivalent.

Answer 8

Flex is a framework . FlexBuilder is an IDE (in an attempt to resolve the confusion between 2, adobe renames FlexBuilder to FlashBuilder)

if you do not know what Framework :

Flex is Flash, as CodeIgniter for PHP

or like .net .

I like to think of structure as an extension of the language, as if you extended the class in OOP.

Answer 9

Flex is a development environment that compiles xml and actionscript into SWF, which runs on a client machine accessing a website. It can also work as a desktop application using Adobe AIR. Flash uses canvas for drawing instead of xml. Compiled SWFs can be called Flash, which adds to the confusion. You can find Flex similar to ASP.NET that accepts xml and C # (vb.net, etc.) and compiles into dll. Of course, ASP.NET runs on a web server.

If you choose between Flex and Flash for an application, consider whether the application will be data-based. If you want to create a pretty spreadsheet application, Flex is the way to go. If you are creating a video game or some kind of presentation, you might need Flash.

Answer 10

Following this, I found a very useful article on this subject:

Adobe Flash and Flex - what is most important for your project?

Integrated Flash Environment Development (IDE), known in its current version as Flash CS3, is an ideal tool for character development animation or linear animation projects. These are projects that require little coding and can be effectively implemented using the Flash IDE Timeline.

In other words, Flash CS4 is very closely related to the timeline - good for linear sequences or animations. While loops and interactivity can be added as a transition to new points on the timeline, this limits projects that cannot be easily displayed in terms of progression over time.

In a simplified form, an animation tool with very powerful interactive features is the creation and layout of new elements on the fly, and the transition on the timeline allows you to create applications, and the Flash CS4 IDE makes it relatively simple, but it is not a great platform for application-style software.

Flex was created as an answer to this question - although it uses the same elements and provides code, it is not tied to a timeline and has more in common with object-oriented programming languages ​​than animation languages.

The IDE Flex Builder provides both software IDEs and a GUI designer for quickly creating interfaces and several other tools for developing applications that run on a flash player.

Answer 11

Flex and Flash have different target audiences. Flex is more developer-oriented, as Flash is more focused on designers and artists.

Answer 12

Flashdeveloper is referred to as a free tool for developing flexible applications. I just want to add a free application development tool (create an MXML file using the constructor): designview . It is available directly on the adobe website, which is the main application that allows you to freely and freely look at the possibilities of flexible use.

Answer 13

Flex is a free and open source ActionScript-based code for developing SWF and AIR applications. Flex Builder (now renamed Flash Builder from version 4 to avoid confusion) is Adobe's commercial IDE for developing SWF / AIR using the flex framework. While flash (CS3) is good for animations, flex is good for / ui applications. Adobe's positions are flexible as an RIA (Rich Internet Application) infrastructure.

Answer 14

Flex also works on Linux, but Flash doesn't.
Flex is a kind of Flash CS 4 second release.


Flex is less graphical because it separates the compiler and the IDE, which allows you to compile the command line (make files, so to speak, large projects), which allows an alternative IDE Flash.


Edit:
Flex is missing some classes that Flash CSX has (like fl.controls), while Flash is missing some classes that Flex (like mx.controls or mx.alert).



Total:
You can create your own Flash compiler for free by downloading the Flex 4 SDK and FlashDevelop. But this is not a replacement for Flash.

Flash creates much smaller files (for example, Flash compiles a project of 100 KB, while Flex compiles the same project of 500 KB). So, Flash is for Internet multimedia applications, and Flex is for desktop multimedia applications.

Answer 15

Flex Builder 3 -> Flash Builder 4, although you use it for Flex. You can also use it for Flash. If you really want to learn about all these things, you should just buy a veteran lunch for the day, because it will save you a MONTH. Adobe makes some cool products, but is also well known as a lazy company , which leads to extremely poor documentation. Unless you're a fan of "liveocs," which is an Adobe term coined to describe "slow and bloated HTML."

Answer 16

"Adobe Flex is a set of technologies released by Adobe Systems for the development and deployment of cross-platform Internet applications based on its own platform Adobe Flash."

Adobe flex

Answer 17

Flash is a programming language similar to JavaScript, but with support for static types.

Flex is a flash library designed to help people program Flash at a much higher level.

It may be useful for some to think about this, since Flex over Flash is like MFC over C ++.

Answer 18

Flex is basically a language that compiles before a flash movie or applet that runs in the Adobe Flash plugin.

Answer 19

In very simple terms, Flex uses MXML to create applications. MXML is similar to HTML and Flash components, similar to form elements.

MXML basically lets you specify which Flash components (for example, a table, a drop-down list, or something custom that you create in Flash) go to the application screen.

This is a very simplified answer, but I am explaining Flex somehow.

(Flex Builder is a development environment for Flex applications and Flash applications)

Answer 20

Flex is not a programming language. flex is the development platform for Rich Internet Applications in the Flash Flash environment and includes ActionScript and MXML as a language.

Answer 21

Flex is a set of technologies, tools, and frameworks for creating the cross-platform Rich Internet Applications.

Answer 22

The best answer I found for “What is Flex” on this page: http://www.adobe.com/products/flex/faq.html#flex-flash

Find "How is Flex different from Flash?"

My interpretation of this is that if your application was created from Flash Professional, it is a Flash application. If it was generated using the Flex SDK (Flash Builder, Flash Develop, or direct code and command line tools), this is a Flex application. Both Flash and Flex applications are compiled into bytecode that can be run by Flash Player or Adobe AIR. Both types of applications may include ActionScript code.