Java® and Flex® Integration Bible

Chapter 3. Similarities between Java and Flex

IN THIS CHAPTER

• What makes Java and Flex similar?

• How these similarities help with integration

One difficulty that often crops up when writing Web applications is that the tools and languages used to develop the server-side code and the client-side code are quite different. For example, a Web developer who specializes in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript development may face a steep learning curve if the need arises for him or her to learn Perl CGI scripting. Similarly, not every server-side developer finds the task of combining HTML, graphics, CSS, and JavaScript into a functional user interface to be easy to do.

Developing Web applications by using Java and Flex takes away some of this difficulty because there are many similarities between Java and Flex. In this chapter, you learn about the similarities between the two technologies and how these similarities can make it easier to develop Web applications by using Java and Flex together.

What Makes Java and Flex Similar?

There are a number of things that make Java and Flex similar. These can be broken down into a few categories:

• Code structure and language constructs. ActionScript, the primary programming language for Flex applications (and specifically ActionScript 3, the version covered in this book), shares a number of style conventions, construct names, and programming concepts with the Java programming language.

• Libraries. Java and Flex each have libraries available that provide similar functionality. ...