RIA Development with Adobe Flex and Flash

This has been a big news week for anyone that is interested and/or working in Adobe Flex or ColdFusion. On Monday Adobe Systems announced the final versions of Flash Builder 4 and the Flex 4 SDK. In Flash Builder 4, it is easier than ever to connect to back-end services with a complete set of data centric development features. There are also many new design and development workflows with Flash Catalyst and Flash Professional, as well as enhancements to the core code development features that are essential to developer productivity. There are over 90 new features in this release, and you can use them with both Flex 3 and Flex 4 to gain big improvements in development time, integration and building more expressive apps.

In sync with the release of Adobe Flash Builder, Adobe also announced the release of ColdFusion Builder. This new Eclipse-based IDE for ColdFusion development is deeply integrated with ColdFusion 9 in addition to making it fast and easy for CF developers to create Flex applications with integration between ColdFusion Builder and Flash Builder. ColdFusion Builder comes with a copy of Flash Builder 4 Standard.

It is not difficult to find great information, free tutorials, and blog articles on this new software release, but here is a quick link listing if you are looking for more:

Adobe.com Flash Builder 4 Landing Page

Purchase Options for Flash Builder and ColdFusion Builder

The New Flex.org Website

What’s New in Flash Builder 4

Learn Adobe Flex in a Week – Free Flash Builder Online Training

Developers Speak Out About Flash Builder 4

I have been noticing a ton of Adobe bashing in my blog reading lately! No Flash on the iPhone, no Flash on the iPad, ColdFusion is dead …. on and on. I suppose everyone has their opinions and passions but personally I just try to focus on the small things in life that make me happy …. like getting my work done FAST so I can go out an have some fun! Just one of the reasons why I am staying with ColdFusion:

10. FAST - yes ColdFusion is fast, it is fast to learn, fast to implement and fast to code. ColdFusion is not the first language that I have had to learn and I am sure that it will not be the last. One thing I can say for sure is that I learned ColdFusion FASTER than any other language.

9. ColdFusion is EASY to learn. Yep, I learned it FAST because it is very easy to learn. Especially, if you are from a web designer background. ColdFusion is a processing language looks very simliar to HTML. So, if you are from a static web design background, you will feel right at home with Adobe ColdFusion.

8. You only need a couple of books to learn ColdFusion. Yep, and you really don’t have to look very hard to find them. The ColdFusion 8 Web Application Books by Ben Forta, Ray Camden, et al should be plenty to get you started. Don’t have enough money to buy the WACK books? No worries! You can download the FREE Adobe Authorized ColdFusion Training books and source files from Adobe.com.

7. ColdFusion has two great commercial software tools that you can use for coding. I have been using Adobe Dreamweaver since version one and I will probably always use Dreamweaver. Although I am starting to feel more at home working in ColdFusion Builder, I still prefer to work in DW for CSS and design. ColdFusion Builder will probably be more attractive to you if you are from the JAVA world or if you also work in Adobe Flash Builder. Also, if you already have Eclipse, you can take advantage of the FREE CFEclipse plugin.

6. Oh yeah, the JAVA world. Basically ColdFusion is a set of JAVA modules that reside on your server, handling requests for data and returning it in whatever format you like. So, maybe you know JAVA or .NET and feel you have no need for ColdFusion. More power to ya! I have worked with JAVA programmers in the past and I my current place of employment has plenty of JAVA programmers. Fact is that I don’t want to be a JAVA programmer, nor do I want to be a .NET programmer. I just want to build a quality data driven web site in record time that does not give me code wrangling headaches. ColdFusion is perfect for just that goal.

5. ColdFusion is Adobe software. Oh crap! Now I am starting to sound like an Adobe fan boy. But, actually I am really not an Adobe fanboy. I am a Allaire/Macromedia fanboy that got dumped into the Adobe fanboy club by acquisition. The bottom is that I like the idea of using a web development language that was pioneered by a kick-ass web development tools company and is still backed by the leader in software tools for web development.

4. ‘Where’s the beef?’ ColdFusion works great with other Adobe tools. Really great with other Adobe tools. If you wanna see some of that beef in action, check out this Adobe.tv video: Building a ColdFusion-Powered Apps.

3. But doesn’t ColdFusion cost money? Uh … yep, most good things in life cost money. Don’t ever forget the number one rule of retail: ‘You get what you pay for and you pay for what you get.’ But, with shared hosting services out there you can host your ColdFusion web applications for a reasonable monthly fee. Most ColdFusion hosting providers specialize in just ColdFusion, so you will get great support and expertise if you have any issues. Here are a couple of my favorite CF hosting providers. Fusionlink in Atlanta, GA and CFDynamics in Texas.

2. So you need to host your own dedicated server with ColdFusion? If you are unable to afford the licensing costs of the Enterprise ColdFusion server, you might want to check out Railo - free open source alternative for ColdFusion application development.

1. FAST and EASY! Did I mention that ColdFusion is FAST and EASY. Very easy! With the learning resources above, a few cups of coffee, and a few hours in front of your computer, you will be up and running with your data-driven web site.

And that my friends is why I LOVE ColdFusion. It is fast and easy so that I can get the job done, and then head out for some fast and easy Friday night fun!