Professional Adobe® Flex® 3

Chapter 26. Flash Integration

Prior to the release of Flex 2 and Flash Player 9, ActionScript developers used mostly the Flash IDE for coding Flash platform rich Internet applications (RIAs). The release of Flash Player 9 with ActionScript 3.0, combined with Flex 2 (and now Flex 3) allows for a much more robust RIA development workflow. Flex Builder has, in large part, assumed the role of ActionScript 3.0 development for the Flash Platform. Despite this, Adobe Flash CS3 can still play an integral part in the development of any Flex application.

In this chapter, you will learn how Flash and its associated workflow can be integrated into the development of any Flex project.

The Flash IDE

IDE is short for "integrated development environment," which refers to an authoring application. In cases such as the Flash IDE, this can also be taken to mean "integrated design environment." When we speak of just "Flash" by itself in this chapter, we are referring to the Flash IDE, currently in version CS3 as of this writing. When we use the term "SWF application" we are referring to a compilation-agnostic process, applicable to any Flash Platform application (or .swf file) that may be authored and compiled by Flash, by Flex Builder, or by a third-party authoring application.

Flash Platform Development Workflows

Development workflows are mostly about tools: the ends requiring you to use them, the ease at which you can integrate them, and the manner in which you achieve those ends. Some of the possible ...