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RICH INTERNET APPS
Adobe adds a simpler UI, Web services connections, and plenty more
FLASH FORWARD FROM MY 2004 review of Macromedia Flex 1.5 - a product plagued by limited, proprietary features, clumsy development opportunity, and a hefty price tag - and you'll find a refreshed suite sporting more than just a new proprietor.
Adobe Flex 2.0 demonstrates a solid advance in support of RIA (rich Internet application) development and delivery, comprising an updated components framework and SDK, a new Eclipse-based IDE for drag-and-drop layout and code management, and a separate data services application for mediated server-side messaging and data integration.
With Flex, developers can create Flash-based apps with features such as chat real-time dashboards, reliable messaging, and data push services designed to run in the revamped Flash Player 9 virtual machine. Flex 2 now supports scrverless, stand-alone app deployment as well - good for offline apps in need of periodic connectivity.
On the downside, companies with an investment in earlier versions of Flex face a bit of a migration hurdle. Although Version 1.5 apps will continue to run in Flash Player 9, they will need to be recompiled under Flex 2 to take advantage of any new capabilities, so prepare for some code parsing.
And, although the new Flash Player shows performance tweaks, debugging, and improved XML support, il is currently available only for Windows PCs and non-Intel based Macs - making this somewhat...