Programming Flex 3

Preface

It literally took us several years to write Programming Flex 2, the predecessor to this book. We worked hard on that book, and when it was finally written and edited and proofread and off to the printer we sighed and looked forward to a break from writing about Flex. However, Flex 3 followed close on the heels of Flex 2, and as the saying goes, there’s no rest for the weary. We again picked up our keyboards and started updating the book for Flex 3. The result is what you have in your hands. And it is more than a simple update.

We thought Programming Flex 2 was one of the best books available for Flex 2. However, we knew we could do better. There were topics we just didn’t have time to include in that book. With Programming Flex 3 we wanted to not only update the book for Flex 3, but also expand our coverage to include things that weren’t in the first book. We think we achieved that goal.

The most notable additions to Programming Flex 3 are in Chapter 20, Chapter 21, and Chapter 22. In Chapter 20, we go into great detail on everything you need to know to add Flex applications to web pages, which we think is an important (if not crucial) topic. Chapter 21 covers building Adobe AIR desktop applications using Flex. And Chapter 22 contains the synthesis of everything else we discuss throughout the book. This is the one addition we think is perhaps the most important, since it helps explain how to take everything you’ve learned about Flex in preceding chapters and use that knowledge ...