Comments on: What to Unlearn?

By: JesterXL

JesterXL — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 20:39:08 +0000

I used Spring 3 years ago on a Flash app. From the server-side perspective, I thought it was pretty hot they could just embed XML tags and at compile time, it just replaced everything with what you had in the config. Rather than coding for encapsulation, your code generator injected the right data when your code was compiled. To me, that was pretty hot.

Could we adapt this for Flex to remove ServiceLocator, and even a few Delegate calls? Sure, and I bet it’d be nice to have a large portion of that code code generated.

By: Brian Lesser

Brian Lesser — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 16:19:43 +0000

Hi Jesse,
After rereading your post I’d like to encourage you to check out Spring in some detail – if you haven’t already. Or at least look at some of Rod Johnson’s books.
One of the great things about inversion of control is that you can get rid of singletons and remove calls to service locators from your code. Your objects get simpler, easier to write, and more maintainable.
Cheers and warm regards,
-Brian

By: johnteal

johnteal — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 23:53:05 +0000

Lots of talk about Flex2.0 but what we’re really talking about is AS3.0–we only use Flex to compile. When Flash9 Pro is released, Flex will fade quickly away.

By: JesterXL

JesterXL — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 09:15:46 +0000

Well, technically they can still work as normal. Flash 9 alpha will allow you to export to Flash Player 9 using AS1 or AS2. No one is forcing them to use AS3.

By: mray

mray — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 06:07:45 +0000

Def agree - different approaches are benefitial in different scenarios, but don't unlearn anything, IMO. Flash is definitely changing, but the sky isn't falling *yet*. I don't think ALL Flash work will become Flex work in the near term; Enterprise apps definitely can benefit, but there are so many projects that are quickly attainable in Flash without having to rely on the Flex Framework. AS3 rocks and I will be using it, guaranteed, but with the evolution of Actionscript occuring, I think the hardest hit will be the long term designers who are used to being able to quickly mock up prototypes who now have to either write classes or utilize pre-built systems to do what they have always been able to do - especially those who have never had to write a class before. That capability has been key to the adoption of Flash by so many creative folks, and it is somewhat scary to see that key capability start to erode. That said, the best and brightest will continue to evolve and adapt (insert Darwin reference here). The danger I see is the requirement of such a degree of specialization from both design and development, that it becomes difficult for one person to do both. It may not be a huge part of the ecosystem, but it is an important one, IMO. On a lighter note, I still relish the fact that my Java friends are jealous of closures. Apparently now they are at least supported in theory under the new Java 7 proposal.