A new server and presentation tier framework for rich Internet applications, formerly known as “Royale” enters beta phase, planned for 2004 release.
Macromedia Flex, formerly code-named Royale, will be a combination of server software, development guidelines and other tools to enable traditional Web application developers to create components in Macromedia’s Flash format. You can watch a pretty informative overview here.
If you’re like me, you have basically reluctantly grappled with the whole movie and frames shebang that Flash comes with. It works, and Flash kicks butt in terms of interactivity development, but there’s a reason why Flash is used mostly for web based eyecandy (disclaimer: programmer bias.)
MM has tried before to take a stab at the developer market with its clumsily named “Flash Professional MX2004” which was not aimed at the traditional core audience of animators, but at people more likely to come from a coding background. Flex is perhaps the next step — you do not need the Flash interface AT ALL.
This is Macromedia’s foray into giving developers, who are typically accustomed to working with Sun Microsystems’ Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE), PHP or ASP, a framework for building attractive, easy-to-navigate interfaces for the J2EE applications they create. You could simply use Ultraedit or Homesite to develop with Flex!
Is this new? Nope.
- Firstly, we already have some of ways to dynamically generate SWFs on the fly (Ming, for instance, which is not really a piece of cake but works like a charm once you get the hang of it).
- Secondly, there are companies that have already attempted something similar. Laszlo Systems for instance has some fabulous tools that offer a similar functionality — make sure you check out their cool demos. Developers create XML-based application definitions that are converted into SWFs by the presentation server… in LPS’s case
.lzx, for Flex the files are.mxml. Scripting is added by way of JavaScript/ActionScript in-lined into the XML.
Not sure how this bodes for Laszlos, but from our perspective it is an interesting development. With MM’s typical quality stamp, efforts such as this and Flash Central are well positioned to advance beyond the browser. Don’t believe me? Just get a beta version for yourself and take it for a ride!
P.S. I couldn’t help noticing that Flex as a name is already taken by one product for “a fast lexical analyser generator”. Trademark issues?