Software, Fitness, and Gaming – Jesse Warden

Category: ActionScript

  • Utilizing Namespaces to Indicate Framework Usage

    When utilizing PureMVC Mediator’s, there are 2 ways I’ve seen people write them. The first way is to have the Mediator call methods on the View, passing data it retrieved from a Proxy. This can also be done from a Command as well. The second way is to actually give the Mediator/Command more responsibility of State management for a particular View, and call more than 1 method on it, doing a lot of code that’s often done in the View.

    Both have the same problem: methods in the View that only PureMVC calls, yet exist for others to inadvertently use because they are public.

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  • Creating Modules in Flash CS4

    You can now create modules in Flash CS4 using AS3.  You couldn’t in CS3, but could in Flash 8 using AS2.  Flash CS4 comes with a new feature in the Publish Settings called “External Library Path”.  What this allows you to do is point to a set of code, and allow you to compile WITHOUT it.  This is almost exactly the same as mxmlc’s (Flex compiler) -load-externs compiler parameter.  We still don’t have -link-report, though, grr….

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  • State of the Flash & Flex Developer Market for 2009

    This is a post I plan to do yearly, every April.  I originally started it (late last year) because at the time, many were attempting to guess the effects of the economy’s slow decline on the Flash & Flex market.  I was hoping it’d help others who were insecure, those who had only been in Flex a short while feel better, or who were just curious what things really were like out there at the time.  I’m not paid by Adobe to do this; I just love the technology and want others to get involved.  Also, I developed a side business, unpaid, where I route recruiters/employers to my network, and my network to them.  I found it interesting to see what people are hiring for, and I feel it helps me keep tabs on what the market it is doing.  Nowadays, you barely ever hear people questioning whether to use Flex or not; rather, it’s mostly on deciding to use it vs. other technologies.  That said, it’s still interesting to me to see how and what the market is doing. 

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  • Creating Dynamic Lists in Flex & Flash

    In this article I’ll describe what a dynamic list is, go over the basic parts that make up a list, and show you how to build those basic parts.  Then, I’ll identify common list building challenges, and how people have overcome them.  Finally, I’ll show you how to utilize the built-in Flash and Flex classes which allow you to create not just lists, but really powerful dynamic components.  This article is suited for both Flash and Flex.

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