10 points you should know best in flex

Source: Internet
Author: User
1. Redefinition: Flex is a Web Standard

Mxml is the standard language for flex applications. It allows developers to develop applications.ProgramArchitecture, including not only the presentation layer but also the class structure. This is easy for web designers and background developers, because mxml markup is similar to HTML. Similarly, the ActionScript In Flex is comparable to Javascript, and flex uses Web-standard CSS to control the presentation layer. It is also a good way to build an application architecture, because the tree feature of the language makes it well integrated with a typical container-component model. Therefore,Source codeEasy to publish, because it is not a binary ide-specific file, but a text file suitable for reading.

It is worth mentioning that mxml is a simple representation of ActionScript to some extent, and the latter is the script language subordinate to ECMA. This is because mxml is converted to ActionScript 3 at the Compilation Time, so even if you have never used or learned mxml, it is entirely possible to use ActionScript 3 to build a flex application. However, for many applications, using mxml in combination with ActionScript is a common method.

2. Flex is flash, and then what is

If you are familiar with Flash's lightweight vector animation and excellent user interfaces, you will not be unfamiliar with Flex. Flex is built on the basis of Flash Player, which is the engine of all Flash content. Therefore, there is nothing flash can do but flex can't do.

All the display programming, API drawing and animation in Flash are also fully available. However, flex also provides an architecture for flash applications and provides a complete set of interface components and containers to help developers write powerful and scalable applications.

3. Flex is very competent

Many companies port their software from Java to flex. This is because flex provides many of the same performance as Java, such as cross-Operating System "write once" capabilities and object-oriented architecture, however, the flex package is much smaller and many additional packages can be downloaded. Flex applications can be used for both web-side software and desktop-Side Software (with Adobe AIR), and a separate code base can be used for this.

Since Flex is built on a flash player that is everywhere visible, no matter what you write, it can be run on the host where it is installed, moreover, computers with Flash Player 9 (most Computers with access to the Internet) have reached a rate of up to 90%. Flash Player frees you from the disadvantages of conversion from different browsers, and saves your software from stupid bugs and lengthyCodeAnd avoid rewriting the Code due to the release of the new browser, and the animation and sound effects play equally well on each server. When you write code for Adobe AIR, you immediately have a cross-operating system desktop application that can run on Mac OSX, windows, and Linux.

4. Flex has nothing to do with the server

Flex is born for data. It can accept data in most common formats and interact with all common servers. This includes locally and remotely downloaded XML, JSP, PHP, ASP, or ColdFusion. You can download information through HTTP or soap Web servers, or even directly interact with Java Server objects or convert binary data online. Adobe AIR can read and write data to sqllite databases. If you have a special back-end server, Flex may also use them, and most of the operations are simple.

If you have a set of excellent service components in the framework, you can obtain your data using several lines of code and bind them directly to the UI component. If you need more detailed control, you can also connect to the binary plug-in and even download files (in Flash Player 10 ).

5. Flex is what you want

The default Interface of the Flex application can be configured. Thanks to the programmable kernel skin, the flex application can be adjusted to what you like-here you can change the color, transparency, and shape and size of the UI control, all of these can be implemented through standard CSS. CSS is not a requirement, because mxml allows developers to adjust styles and skins through simple identifiers. If you use flex builder, your application has a complete WYSIWYG compiler. You can use this compiler to create and insert images and have all the CSS for you. In addition, the flex application has a bunch of subject sets, so that you only need a line of mxml code to change the overall appearance.

It is worth mentioning that, unlike Java and JavaScript, flex does not inherit the UI from its operating system. That is to say, a flex application running on Mac OSX does not have buttons like Mac keys, and calling flex alert does not present Mac alert tables. Flex has its built-in interface, but if the operating system looks like what you want, there are also topics that can bring you closer to the operating system.

6. Flex is light and fast

The flex framework is surprisingly fast because it is built on top of ActionScript 3. ActionScript 3 significantly improves the initialization Time, And the built-in support for delayed instantiation is also significant. With a brand new JIT (just-in-time) compiler, your code runs very fast. Rich data visualization and first-class animation can be done without using your CPU. Since the previous 3D animation is always a bottle neck, the new support in Flash 10 will solve this problem. There are even image hardware accelerators to take full advantage of modern graphics processing cards (graphics cards ).

Although controversial, Flex is really light. Using a set of UI components will certainly be much larger than the less-started ActionScript code, but considering their strength, these components are indeed small. In reality, typical applications built using an Ajax framework are often larger than small flex applications. Although Flash Player is often pre-installed on a computer, it is only a few megabytes of download. It is worth mentioning that there is also a new component called framework cache, which can download a considerable part of the framework component. This feature can store standard flex UI components on users' computers, so that other flex applications can be quickly downloaded without downloading the entire framework.

7. Accessible flex

For a while, there have been a lot of debate about whether flash can be used by people with disabilities, and there are many reasons. Flash content is often misunderstood as being unable to be used by people with disabilities, but this is actually far from the truth. As users desire more and more, flash can "interact" with screen readers ". In fact, the flex framework component has a great helper tool that provides navigation for screen readers and keyboards. Most flex developers only need to enable this tool (the default option is disabled ).

Compared with many Ajax components, Flex is more friendly. This is because HTML often breaks the support features of many local people with disabilities by creating JavaScript frameworks. In comparison, flex has built support for people with disabilities from the beginning.

8. Flex is Seo compatible

In the past, building a website on Flash Player was a nightmare of search engine optimization (SEO. This is because the software used to browse Web pages usually does not compile the .swf file, which is a binary file compiled by the flex application. Modern search engines have the ultimate function of reading .swf files, such as hyperlinks and a large number of texts.

However, the problem with completely Using Flash/flex to build websites is that browsing relationships between different websites, such as site-tabs, are not understood by search engines, the engine considers this as a separate page (maybe a little text ). From the perspective of flexapplication compilation, the readability of .swf becomes more difficult. Recently, Adobe released a special version of Flash Player for search engine robots, which allows the engine to search more deeply and quickly return the best search results. However, if Seo is just your initial goal, it is not advisable to use flash to build Web pages. Using HTML with Flash content is a better way, or you can use HTML to build the home page and use flash to build some parts. Then, the mxmlcode is compiled into .swf, which is not recognized by the search engine.

9. Flex is free and open-source

The source code of the entire flex framework is open, and every copy of the Flex SDK and flex builder is also open. This means you can see how they work internally, the debugging process of the Framework, and even you can modify them for personal purposes. Flex is also free-it is free to use the flex SDK for development, or you can use the free mxmlc compiler for compilation. Unlike earlier versions, flex no longer requires special servers. You can easily create a compilation application and deploy it to the desired server. Of course, if you decide to use eclipse-based IDE development, a copy of the Flex builder will be paid. However, this cost is not high, and the initial development tool has been reduced recently.

10. Flex is easy to learn

Flex, I dare say, is easy to learn. Mxml is very easy to understand and removes many complex syntaxes developed with pure ActionScript. If you have used HTML and CSS before, you will be half done if you learn Flex again. Once you have learned the basics of mxml, you can start to learn ActionScript to make your applications more interactive. The flex framework provides a complete set of user interface components to accelerate the development process. It is also very simple to learn about their basic usage.

This is really simple, especially when you start using asdocs, the latter is the documentation provided for flex. Today for anyProgramming LanguageFor example, asdocs may all be the most detailed and simplified set of documents, which enables the initial development environment-Flex builder to help you quickly start, and enables you to visually build your applications in the design mode, allowing you to use your fingers (click) to complete the most common tasks. There are also a lot of good books on the market, both suitable for programming is absolutely cainiao and suitable for other programming languages to convert to flex, Lin Zong.

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