Adobe Consulting: Aaron Brownlee

I'm bummed I didn't get to attend MAX. One of the things I'm sorry I missed was Christophe Coenraets' session on Flex frameworks. The 'which framework' debate has heated up over the last few years. Being so busy at work, I don't always get the time I'd like to explore some of the offerings.

During Christophe's session, there was fairly direct comparison between Cairngorm, PureMVC, Swiz, and Mate. It's an ambitious and long over-due exercise. I've seen some attempts to compare members of that crowd, but the result rarely came across as a direct comparison, and it was rare that the result was useful as a reference. From Christophe's description, this seems to be the most fair and complete comparison done so far. Considering the code was written by people with a fair investment in each framework, it's about as good as your going to get.

Check out Christophe's blog entry that covers the results of the session. Definetly don't miss the source code, which provides reference apps built with each framework.

Great stuff, really. This is just what an aspiring project architect needs to make an informed decision about which framework or practices best fit the problems they are addressing.

There is some great stuff going on at MAX. Being primarily focused on AIR development, I might be biased in my excitement over the AIR 2 announcement.

Highlights include an updated version of WebKit, support for interaction with native OS processes, multi-touch gesture support, improved socket support, and more. With all that, it's hard to say what is most exciting. WebKit will add speed, for sure. The native process API opens up a lot of possibilities, as does better control over socket layer connections. While there are not a ton of touch screen devices available, people are getting more used to the idea of multi-touch gestures, so working them into applications will become more common. In all, some cool stuff to think about.

AIR is already proving a useful platform, but with these additions there is a lot more potential. I'm excited to get some time to check out the new features!

More details are posted in the AIR Team Blog.

With MAX right around the corner, you would expect some build up. For example, Cairngorm 3. Yes, kids, it's true! A transformation is coming, which will make Cairngorm more than just a micro-architecture. Instead, Cairngorm is broadening its scope to become a collection of tools, practices, and libraries, all of which form a foundation for use in Flex development. At the core of it, Cairngorm still represents a layered architecture, separation of concerns, and test driven development. If it suits your needs, the original Cairngorm libraries are included, with many enhancements. On top of that, a wealth of additional information is added. This content is gleaned from the expertise of Adobe Professional Services and the Cairngorm Committee. This will allow the wider community to share the knowledge that we in Adobe Professional Services have acquired while developing large scale Flex applications. The additional components and recommendations expand beyond a single architecture, and will suit many of the frameworks now being used. This will broaden Cairngorm's scope, making it a useful tool on any size project.

As to what 'coming soon' means, I'll have to leave that up to your imagination. But when it does become officially available, be sure to check it out!

So, you need a spell checker? Finding the current options are either a bit limited, or not free? Adobe has just launched Squiggly, a spellchecker library based on an open source algorithm and dictionaries, as a project on Labs. With Squiggly, you can add 'check as you type' spelling to your AIR or ActionScript application with easy to follow examples. It's a 'technology preview' at this point, and only targeted at English for now, but still worth checking out.

Read the official Labs blog entry, or check out the online demo.

A few of the team in Adobe Professional Services have been working on a port of PMD to work with ActionScript.

From the overview:

FlexPMD is a tool that helps to improve code quality by auditing any AS3/Flex source directory and detecting common bad practices, such as:

• Unused code (functions, variables, constants, etc.)


• Inefficient code (misuse of dynamic filters, heavy constructors, etc.)


• Over-complex code (nested loops, too many conditionals, etc.)


• Over-long code (classes, methods, etc.)


• Incorrect use of the Flex component lifecycle (commitProperties, etc.)

We have been using this on my current project, and it's a great tool. Especially handy is the ability to edit or create the rule set. This also integrates well with continuous integration tools, providing updated reports ever time the build scripts run.

Check out on Confluence, the Adobe Open Source website (you may need to log into Adobe to view the link):
http://opensource.adobe.com/wiki/display/flexpmd/FlexPMD