Flex 3 With Java

Develop rich internet applications quickly and easily using Adobe Flex 3, ActionScript 3.0 and integrate with a Java backend using BlazeDS 3.2

The best way to showcase a powerful new technology is to demonstrate its real-world results, and that's exactly what this new Cookbook does with Adobe Flex 3. Wide ranging and highly practical, Flex 3 Cookbook contains more than 300 proven recipes for developing interactive Rich Internet Applications and Web 2.0 sites. You'll find everything from Flex basics, to solutions for working with visual components and data access, to tips on application development, unit testing, and using Adobe AIR. You also get ideas from the development community. Through its Flex Cookbook website (www.adobe.com/devnet/), Adobe invited Flex developers to post their own solutions for working with this technology, and from hundreds of posts, the authors chose the best and most useful solutions to supplement Flex 3 Cookbook. Each recipe inside provides a solution to a common problem, explains how and why it works, and offers sample code that you can put to use immediately. Topics include: Containers and dialogues Working with Text Data driven components DataGrid and Advanced DataGrid ItemRenderers and Editors Images, bitmaps, videos, and sounds CSS, styling, and skinning States and effects Working with Collections, arrays, and DataProviders Using DataBinding Validation, formatting, and regular expressions Using Charts and data visualization Services and Data Access Using RSLs and Modules Working with Adobe AIR Whether you're a committed Flex developer or still evaluating the technology, you'll discover how to get quick results with Flex 3 using the recipes in this Cookbook. It's an ideal way to jumpstart your next web application.

Evaluating any new technology can be a challenge. This Short Cut is designed to help web application developers (and their team managers) understand if Flex is the right technology for their company or client. Although the authors of this book have a strong understanding of the Flex framework, this isn't a sales pitch for Flex. The authors believe that Flex is a good tool to solve many business problems, but it is not a cure-all. After reading this material, you'll know what's good about Rich Internet Applications. You'll know the capabilities of Flex 3, how Flex works, and how much it costs. We'll tell you about the challenges you'll face in developing with Flex, and show you the steps you'll take to create and deploy a Flex 3 application.

How soon can you learn Adobe Flex 3? With this book's unique hands-on approach, you will be able to tinker with examples right away, and create your own Rich Internet Applications with Flex within the first few chapters. As you progress, you learn how to build a layout, add interactivity, work with data, and deploy your applications to either the Web or the desktop. Learning Flex 3 offers step-by-step instructions that are clear and concise, along with tips and tricks that author Alaric Cole has gathered after years of using Flex and teaching it to fellow developers at Yahoo! You'll understand how Flex works, how to use the MXML markup language and work with ActionScript, how to deploy RIAs to the desktop using Adobe AIR, and much more. Whether you're a beginner, or an experienced web developer coming to Flex from another platform, Learning Flex 3 is the ideal way to learn how to: Set up your environment with FlexBuilder and Eclipse Create a new Flex project Use the different design views in Flex Write code with MXML Lay out your Flex application Embed images and graphics Build a user interface Add interactivity with ActionScript Handle user input Move, display, and collect data Add custom components with MXML Add sound effects, filters, and transitions Style your applications with CSS, skins, and themes Deploy applications to the Web, or to the desktop using Adobe AIR Also included are brief explanations of objects, classes, components, properties, methods, types, and other Flex attributes. You will find that Learning Flex 3 is not only the most complete tutorial for Flex, it's also the quickest way to get going with the latest version of this powerful framework.

If you want to try your hand at developing rich Internet applications with Adobe's Flex 3, and already have experience with frameworks such as .NET or Java, this is the ideal book to get you started. Programming Flex 3 gives you a solid understanding of Flex 3's core concepts, and valuable insight into how, why, and when to use specific Flex features. Numerous examples and sample code demonstrate ways to build complete, functional applications for the Web, using the free Flex SDK, and RIAs for the desktop, using Adobe AIR. This book is an excellent companion to Adobe's Flex 3 reference documentation. With this book, you will: Learn the underlying details of the Flex framework Program with MXML and ActionScript Arrange the layout and deal with UI components Work with media Manage state for applications and components Use transitions and effects Debug your Flex applications Create custom components Embed Flex applications in web browsers Build AIR applications for the desktop Flex 3 will put you at the forefront of the RIA revolution on both the Web and the desktop. Programming Flex 3 will help you get the most from this amazing and sophisticated technology.

Whether you're a Flex 3 beginner or intermediate user, this book provides the necessary information to help you develop into an expert. Using a practical hands-on approach, it illustrates exactly how to create robust and scalable enterprise-grade rich Internet applications (RIAs). The book is divided into three parts. The first part discusses the architectural and design aspects of Flex 3 application development. It explains the internals of a Flex 3 application and advocates a few best practices to fine-tune your application to ensure maximum performance. It includes tutorials on creating custom components, data binding, and creating AIR-powered desktop applications. The second part concentrates on effectively integrating Flex 3 with server- and client-side technologies. Techniques for integration with Java and PHP are covered in detail, and content covering interaction with client-side technologies is also included. After reading the chapter on JavaScript integration, you will be ready to create applications that can use Ajax and Flex 3 together. The third and final part of the book is a unique and eclectic mix of some advanced topics like mash-ups, collaborative applications, 3D rendering, highly interactive visualization, and audio and video streaming. In summary, through reading this book, you will benefit from the wealth of information and years of experience the authors hold, and will then be ready to cruise with comfort in the world of Flex 3 application development on your own.

Over the past few years, the now-open source Adobe Flex framework has been adopted by the Java community as the preferred framework for Java rich Internet applications (RIAs) using Flash for the presentation layer. Flex helps Java developers to build and maintain expressive web/desktop applications that deploy consistently on all major browsers, desktops, and operating systems. Beginning Java and Flex describes new, simpler, and faster ways to develop enterprise RIAs. This book is not only for Java or Flex developers, but also for all web developers who want to increase their productivity and the quality of their development. The aim of the book is to teach the new frontier of web development using open source, agile, lightweight Java frameworks with Flex. Java lightweight framework programming helps Flex developers create dynamic-looking enterprise applications. Flex and Java are becoming very popular for both business and interactive applications.

Flex your development muscles with this hefty guide Write programs using familiar workflows, deliver rich applications for Web or desktop, and integrate with a variety of application servers using ColdFusion, PHP, and others-all with the new Flex Builder 3 toolkit and the comprehensive tutorials in this packed reference. You'll learn the basics of Flex 3, then quickly start using MXML, ActionScript, CSS, and other tools to create applications that can run on any browser or operating system. Install and learn how to use Flex Builder 3 Explore MXML, ActionScript 3, and the anatomy of a Flex application Lay out Flex controls and containers, and use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to create look and feel Incorporate Advanced List controls, Flex charting components, and data entry forms Integrate your Flex applications with a variety of application servers Create cross-operating system desktop applications with Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) Companion Web Site Visit www.wiley.com/go/flex3 to access code files for the projects in the book.

Unlike many Flex books that presume readers want to develop applications from scratch, Flex on Java is for developers in the real world-where Flex is one more technology being added to existing systems developed in Java, and where integration is the key indicator of success. Written for Java developers beginning to use Flex, Flex on Java shows how to use Flex alongside existing Java applications, and how to integrate Flex using familiar server-side technologies such as Spring, EJBs, JMS, and more. The authors, both Agile development experts, focus on Agile and test-driven development to enable readers to redesign applications that deliver more value and with zero defects. Throughout the book, readers will apply these techniques to refactoring a single application into a rich internet application using Flex and the BlazeDS framework. Purchase of the print book comes with an offer of a free PDF, ePub, and Kindle eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book.

If you want to try your hand at developing rich Internet applications with Adobe's Flex 3, and already have experience with frameworks such as .NET or Java, this is the ideal book to get you started. Programming Flex 3 gives you a solid understanding of Flex 3's core concepts, and valuable insight into how, why, and when to use specific Flex features. Numerous examples and sample code demonstrate ways to build complete, functional applications for the Web, using the free Flex SDK, and RIAs for the desktop, using Adobe AIR. This book is an excellent companion to Adobe's Flex 3 reference documentation. With this book, you will: Learn the underlying details of the Flex framework Program with MXML and ActionScript Arrange the layout and deal with UI components Work with media Manage state for applications and components Use transitions and effects Debug your Flex applications Create custom components Embed Flex applications in web browsers Build AIR applications for the desktop Flex 3 will put you at the forefront of the RIA revolution on both the Web and the desktop. Programming Flex 3 will help you get the most from this amazing and sophisticated technology.

Keep ahead of the game and get up to speed with Flex 3, Flex Builder 3, and ActionScript 3.0, with this comprehensive guide. Expert Flash trainer Charles Brown first takes you through the basics of installation and the Flex Builder environment. He then teaches you all the essentials of MXML and ActionScript 3.0, such as containers, states, and events, before moving on to more advanced topics like interfacing Flex with ColdFusion and .NET, creating Flex components with Flash, and much more. No matter what level you were to start with, by the end of the book you'll be creating powerful Flex applications.

Discover how easy RIA development can be with this one-of-a-kind handbook from the Adobe Developer Library. Several clear, step-by-step mini-tutorials teach you about web services, event handling, designing user interfaces with reusable components, and more. After finishing this guide, you'll be able to build Flash applications ranging from widgets to full-featured RIAs using the Flex SDK and Flex Builder 3.0. With Getting Started with Flex 3, you will: Walk through sample RIA projects and see examples of amazing applications people have built with Flex Work with ActionScript 3.0 and the MXML markup language Build user interfaces using the controls and tools available with the framework Get a tour of controls available commercially and through open source Learn how Flex integrates with ASP.NET, ColdFusion, PHP, and J2EE in the server Build Flex-based widgets that let you display real-time data Use advanced controls to build 3D graphs, data dashboards, mapping applications, and more You'll find complete code for video players, a slideshow, a chat client, and an RSS reader, just to name a few. You also get plenty of tips, tricks, and techniques to leverage your existing programming skills, whether you come from an open source or Visual Studio-intensive background.

This Short Cut takes a look at a set of tools and technologies that work together to allow developers to build Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) quickly and easily on top of proven enterprise technologies that are traditionally associated with long, complex development efforts.