The Lure of Flex

Adobe makes Flex seem great and indeed it offers many advantages to other languages. One of the draws is that once created, an application can run on any platform including Mac, PC and Unix. And yet while run from the SWF player, it is not beholding to the differences in browsers. Many of my friends in ColdFusion and web development sing its praises. They say how easy it is to learn. And indeed, Adobe makes it easy for those of us who work in the field of education and have a staff, faculty or student ID, Flex Builder is free. http://flexregistration.com/

If you are not one of the above, the download is available and free for the first 60 days of use. After that, to use the application it's $699 for the pro version and $249 for the standard edition.

As a member of O'Reilly Safari Books, it is easy to gain access to the new books coming out on Flex. I'm looking at a new book right now--it's not been printed yet, but it is published online in a feature they call the Rough Cuts, where you can read full texts and comment on books. This book is Learning Flex 3, by Alaric Cole. He says that right now is the best time for new developers to learn Flex.

Want to see it in action? Check out the live showcase. You'll find examples here http://flex.org/showcase/

Links for learning more and access to books available from Adobe and O'Reilly Safari Books.