der hess » flex http://blog.derhess.de am medialen werkeln Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:00:38 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Book review: Developing Flex 4 Components http://blog.derhess.de/2012/02/01/book-review-developing-flex-4-components/ http://blog.derhess.de/2012/02/01/book-review-developing-flex-4-components/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:00:38 +0000 admin http://blog.derhess.de/?p=1747
  • Book review: Adobe Flex – Training from the source
  • Book review: Generative Gestaltung
  • Book review: Form + Code (Generative Art & Design)
    • ]]>     A couple of weeks ago I finished reading  the book "Developing Flex 4 Components" by Mike Jones. The reviews on Amazon.com were very promising and during my Flex 3 developing I always wished such a book. For this reason my expectations were very high.

    I wasn't disappointed. The book is a perfect continuation of the Flex 4 beginner book "Flex 4 - Training from the source". Even it repeats some content like Data Binding and basics of developing custom compontents, it was enjoyable to read. Mike Jones has a really nice writing style for explaining the core concepts of the Flex 4 component and skinning architecture very easily. These chapters are really one of the best availabe informations to  these kind of topics. Completely new for me was the chapter about "working with Metadata". I learnt some deep concepts behind the Meta-tag usage of the Flex Framework. The same is valid for the "Distribution" part of the book. The development worklflow with Flash Library Project, Component Integraton in Flash Builder 4, and the Documentation part are very helpful for my future projects.

    I can highly recommend this book for experienced beginner and intermediate Flex Developers. For really advanced Flex developers I missed some more deeper information. Here is my wishlist for a second edition (maybe it comes some time?!):

    • Data Binding: This topic is mentioned but I wish more deeper information like the presentation "Diving in the Flex Data Binding Waters" by Michael Labriola and the compound data object approach  by Olikhver Sergey
    • Component Skinning architecture for multi-screen objects: If you have a very complex application or you have to create various skins for various devices, you can run very fast in an architecture nightmare. See the article Advanced Flex 4 Skinning Techniques by Pavel Jacko
    • Differences between mobile component and desktop component development
    • For some certain cases the hack with the mx_internal namespace makes still sense.  A short segment or a mini chapter about the use of this approach would be nice.
    • Test Driven Development with Flex Unit: I don't know if Flex Unit really belongs to this kind of book, but if you are creating a component library, then you should use Flex Unit. Just for ensure the quality of your compontes for upcoming versions. Especially, writing and managing Flex Unit code for visual components is always tricky. Some advices for this topic would be so nice.

    That is all what I can say. Mike Jones wrote a really good book about Flex 4 component development. It is a must-buy for every Flex Developer.

    Related posts:

    1. Book review: Adobe Flex – Training from the source
    2. Book review: Generative Gestaltung
    3. Book review: Form + Code (Generative Art & Design)

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    ]]>     http://blog.derhess.de/2012/02/01/book-review-developing-flex-4-components/feed/ 0 "     Book review: Adobe Flex – Training from the source http://blog.derhess.de/2011/12/16/book-review-adobe-flex-training-from-the-source/ http://blog.derhess.de/2011/12/16/book-review-adobe-flex-training-from-the-source/#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:20:58 +0000 admin http://blog.derhess.de/?p=1736
  • Book review: Developing Flex 4 Components
  • An Adobe Air Component for the Vimeo Moogaloop API
  • Book review: Generative Gestaltung
    • ]]>     A couple of weeks ago I read the book Flex 4 - Training from the source. It is the officially introduction book for Flex 4 from Adobe.  I was very curious about the book, because I started learning Flex 3 with no good start. For Flex 4 I wanted to learn it how I like to learn new things.

    Content review:

    The books starts with the typical introduction about Rich Internet Applications. I skipped this chapter, because it is always the same bla bla... The chapters 2 talks about the new Flash Builder IDE. Even I was pretty familiar with the IDE I could find some nice features during reading this chapters. So I learnt already something new. Especially, the chapter 3 and 4 gave me a really good introduction and understanding about the new layout architecture and component infrastructure. The chapters Handling Events, Using Remote XML Data, Creating Classes are not so interesting for an already experienced Flex Developer. The difference between Flex 3 and Flex 4 is not big in these cases. The chapter about Data Binding was good to read again, because Binding is very helpful but sometimes not so easy to deal with. I highly recommend the chapter 10 about DataGroups and Lists and the chapter 12 about Item Renderes. On these topics the change from Flex 3 to Flex 3 is very big. Unfortunately, the chapter 15 about Formatters and Validators is pretty outdatet, because Flex 4.5 offers new Spark based Formatters and Validators. The last three chapters about Skinning and custom Actionscript components are very basic written. For beginners easy to understand and experienced Flex Developers get an idea about the differences between Flex 3 and Flex 4 component development.

    Structure:

    I have to admit I am keen on the book structure. The chapters are structured like school lessons. Every lessons has an approximate time, which works very well in my case. Additionally, it is very useful for organizing the learning with your daily schedule. However, every end of a chapter provides a good summary of the learnt content. So you automatically repeat the learnt stuff. The code examples are nice described and easy to work with, too.

    Result:

    Flex 4 - Training from the source is a really good book for Flex 4 beginners.  Already experienced Flex Developers can get bored about some content. It depends on your learning type. I like reading books, so for me it was perfect to get an overview. If you like more reading online resources or watching video tutorials, then go for it. There are enough documentations and tutorials available.

    Related posts:

    1. Book review: Developing Flex 4 Components
    2. An Adobe Air Component for the Vimeo Moogaloop API
    3. Book review: Generative Gestaltung

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    ]]>     http://blog.derhess.de/2011/12/16/book-review-adobe-flex-training-from-the-source/feed/ 2 "     My most important Twitter Messages #11 http://blog.derhess.de/2011/08/31/my-most-important-twitter-messages-11-2/ http://blog.derhess.de/2011/08/31/my-most-important-twitter-messages-11-2/#comments Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:00:29 +0000 admin http://blog.derhess.de/?p=1683
  • My most important Twitter Messages #6
  • My most important Twitter Messages #4
  • My most important Twitter Messages #5
    • ]]>     Twitter von der hess
    A small summary of my Twitter messages from June - August 2011:

    Allgemein (General)

    Generative Art:

    Info Design and Visualization

    UX and Interaction Design:

    Projekte und Experimente (Projects and experiments)

    Neue Technologie (new Technologies)

    Programmierung und Software Design (Programming)

    Physical Computing

    Game Developing:

    Flash and Flex

    Related posts:

    1. My most important Twitter Messages #6
    2. My most important Twitter Messages #4
    3. My most important Twitter Messages #5

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    ]]>     http://blog.derhess.de/2011/08/31/my-most-important-twitter-messages-11-2/feed/ 0 "     My most important Twitter Messages #10 http://blog.derhess.de/2011/06/09/my-most-important-twitter-messages-10/ http://blog.derhess.de/2011/06/09/my-most-important-twitter-messages-10/#comments Thu, 09 Jun 2011 10:27:54 +0000 admin http://blog.derhess.de/?p=1585
  • My most important Twitter Messages #5
  • My most important Twitter Messages #6
  • My most important Twitter Messages #12
    • ]]>     Twitter von der hess
    A small summary of my Twitter messages from March - June 2011:

    Allgemein (General)

    Generative Art:

    Info Design and Visualization

    UX and Interaction Design:

    Projekte und Experimente (Projects and experiments)

    Neue Technologie (new Technologies)

    Programmierung und Software Design (Programming)

    Physical Computing

    Game Developing:

    Flash and Flex

    Related posts:

    1. My most important Twitter Messages #5
    2. My most important Twitter Messages #6
    3. My most important Twitter Messages #12

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    ]]>     http://blog.derhess.de/2011/06/09/my-most-important-twitter-messages-10/feed/ 0 "     My most important Twitter Messages #9 http://blog.derhess.de/2011/03/24/my-most-important-twitter-messages-9/ http://blog.derhess.de/2011/03/24/my-most-important-twitter-messages-9/#comments Thu, 24 Mar 2011 12:03:53 +0000 admin http://blog.derhess.de/?p=1551
  • My most important Twitter Messages #6
  • My most important Twitter Messages #11
  • My most important Twitter Messages #4
    • ]]>     Twitter von der hess
    A small summary of my Twitter messages from January - March 2011:

    Allgemein (General)

    Generative Art:

    Info Design and Visualization

    UX and Interaction Design:

    Projekte und Experimente (Projects and experiments)

    Neue Technologie (new Technologies)

    Programmierung und Software Design (Programming)

    Physical Computing

    Game Developing:

    Flash and Flex

    Related posts:

    1. My most important Twitter Messages #6
    2. My most important Twitter Messages #11
    3. My most important Twitter Messages #4

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    ]]>     http://blog.derhess.de/2011/03/24/my-most-important-twitter-messages-9/feed/ 0 "     My most important Twitter Messages #8 http://blog.derhess.de/2010/12/23/my-most-important-twitter-messages-8/ http://blog.derhess.de/2010/12/23/my-most-important-twitter-messages-8/#comments Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:36:09 +0000 admin http://blog.derhess.de/?p=1474
  • My most important Twitter Messages #5
  • My most important Twitter Messages #4
  • My most important Twitter Messages #11
    • ]]>     Twitter von der hess
    A small summary of my Twitter messages from October - December 2010:

    Allgemein (General)

    Generative Art:

    Info Design and Visualization

    UX and Interaction Design:

    Projekte und Experimente (Projects and experiments)

    Neue Technologie (new Technologies)

    Programmierung und Software Design (Programming)

    Mobile Development

    Game Developing:

    Flash and Flex

    Related posts:

    1. My most important Twitter Messages #5
    2. My most important Twitter Messages #4
    3. My most important Twitter Messages #11

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    ]]>     http://blog.derhess.de/2010/12/23/my-most-important-twitter-messages-8/feed/ 0 "     My most important Twitter Messages #6 http://blog.derhess.de/2010/07/05/my-most-important-twitter-messages-6/ http://blog.derhess.de/2010/07/05/my-most-important-twitter-messages-6/#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:13:36 +0000 admin http://blog.derhess.de/?p=1343
  • My most important Twitter Messages #11
  • My most important Twitter Messages #4
  • My most important Twitter Messages #5
    • ]]>     Twitter von der hess
    A small summary of my Twitter messages from March - June 2010:

    Allgemein (General)

    Generative Art:

    Info Design and Visualization

    UX and Interaction Design:

    Projekte und Experimente (Projects and experiments)

    Neue Technologie (new Technologies)

    Programmierung und Software Design (Programming)

    Physical Computing

    Game Developing:

    Flash and Flex

    Related posts:

    1. My most important Twitter Messages #11
    2. My most important Twitter Messages #4
    3. My most important Twitter Messages #5

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    ]]>     http://blog.derhess.de/2010/07/05/my-most-important-twitter-messages-6/feed/ 0 "     My most important Twitter Messages #5 http://blog.derhess.de/2010/03/04/my-most-important-twitter-messages-5/ http://blog.derhess.de/2010/03/04/my-most-important-twitter-messages-5/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:15:37 +0000 admin http://blog.derhess.de/?p=1235
  • My most important Twitter Messages #6
  • My most important Twitter Messages #10
  • My most important Twitter Messages #4
    • ]]>

    Twitter von der hess
    A small summary of my Twitter messages from Januar - February 2010:

    Allgemein (General)

    Generative Art:

    Info Design and Visualization

    UX and Interaction Design:

    Projekte und Experimente (Projects and experiments)

    Neue Technologie (new Technologies)

    Programmierung und Software Design (Programming)

    Game Developing:

    Flash and Flex

    Related posts:

    1. My most important Twitter Messages #6
    2. My most important Twitter Messages #10
    3. My most important Twitter Messages #4

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    ]]>     http://blog.derhess.de/2010/03/04/my-most-important-twitter-messages-5/feed/ 0 "     My most important Twitter Messages #4 http://blog.derhess.de/2010/01/05/my-most-important-twitter-messages-4/ http://blog.derhess.de/2010/01/05/my-most-important-twitter-messages-4/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:03:16 +0000 admin http://blog.derhess.de/?p=1188
  • My most important Twitter Messages #6
  • My most important Twitter Messages #5
  • My most important Twitter Messages #11
    • ]]>

    Twitter von der hess
    A small summary of my Twitter messages from November - December 2009:

    Allgemein (General)

    Generative Art:

    UX and Interaction Design:

    Projekte und Experimente (Projects and experiments)

    Neue Technologie (new Technologies)

    Programmierung und Software Design (Programming)

    Game Developing:

    Flash and Flex


    Related posts:

    1. My most important Twitter Messages #6
    2. My most important Twitter Messages #5
    3. My most important Twitter Messages #11

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    ]]>     http://blog.derhess.de/2010/01/05/my-most-important-twitter-messages-4/feed/ 1 "     The new YouTube AS3 Chromeless API in Flex, Air, Flash http://blog.derhess.de/2009/10/27/the-new-youtube-as3-chromeless-api-in-flex-air-flash/ http://blog.derhess.de/2009/10/27/the-new-youtube-as3-chromeless-api-in-flex-air-flash/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:23:27 +0000 admin http://blog.derhess.de/?p=1098
  • Vimeo Moogaloop in Flex – FlexVimeoPlayer Component
  • Working with Vimeo Moogaloop API in Flash
  • Die Gretchenfrage: Wann Flash und wann Flex?
    • ]]>     I was very pleased that YouTube released a ActionScript 3 API for their Chromeless Player. I looked at some availabe code snippets on different blogs and unfortunateley, I had to realize that the API is not really object-oriented and a little bit annoying to work with (because of the missing code completion).

    My current project - an independent Web Video Player - is still using the old workaround YouTube API Tubeloc and I have to change this. That is the reason why I created a Flex Component for the new YouTube AS3 API. If you would like to use my code for your Flex or Air projects, please feel free to use it and if you will find some bugs, please leave a comment!

    Now I will start with some explanations of my code. I create 4 classes, which manage the whole YouTube Chromeless API. The class YouTubeAs3 contains all the most important functions and is based on the Flex Framework(!). The classes AirYouTube and FlexYouTube extends the YouTubeAs3 class. Both classes are Flex Framework based classes. I had to divide the YouTubeAs3 class into these 2 classes, because the Adobe Air environment don't support the command Security.allowDomain() and it is cleaner to use this command for a web-based projects. So therefore please use the FlexYouTube component for web-based projects and the AirYouTube component for your Air projects. The fourth class FlashYouTube is an only Flash plattform based class, that should be very handy to use for non-Flex projects.

    The other classes just simplify the coder's life. So I created some static classes for the various video quality parameters (YouTubeVideoQuality Class), the various PlayerStates (YouTubePlayingState), the YouTube errors (YouTubeError) and of course the available YouTube events (YouTubeEvent).

    I wrote an example application for you, which should be very easy to understand. In this very small Flex application you can stop, play and pause the YouTube videos:

    //----------------------------------
//  YouTube Player Control
//----------------------------------
private function handlePlay(event:MouseEvent):void
{
	youTubePlayer.playVideo();
	this.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,handlePlayingTime);
}
 
private function handlePause(event:MouseEvent):void
{
	youTubePlayer.pauseVideo();
	this.removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,handlePlayingTime);
}
 
private function handleStop(event:MouseEvent):void
{
	youTubePlayer.stopVideo();
	this.removeEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME,handlePlayingTime);
}
 
// frame-based Intervall for showing loading and playing process
private function handlePlayingTime(e:Event):void
{
	labelTime.text = youTubePlayer.getCurrentTime() + " / " + youTubePlayer.getDuration();
 
	progresPlayingVideo.minimum = 0;
	progresPlayingVideo.maximum = youTubePlayer.getDuration();
	progresPlayingVideo.setProgress(youTubePlayer.getCurrentTime(),youTubePlayer.getDuration());
 
	progressLoadVideo.minimum = 0;
	progressLoadVideo.maximum = youTubePlayer.getVideoBytesTotal();
        progressLoadVideo.setProgress(youTubePlayer.getVideoBytesLoaded(), youTubePlayer.getVideoBytesTotal());
}

    Some behaviours of this Flex-based YouTube component is adjusted for the Flex Framework. If you would like to change the size of the YouTube Player, you can use the witdh and height properties of the component. Furthermore there exists some other properties:

    [Bindable] public var volume:int;  // Value between 0 and 100
[Bindable] public var playerState:Number; // Read-only!!!!
[Bindable] public var playbackQuality:String; // Use the static variables of the YouTubeVideoQuality class

    Handling and managing of the YouTubeEvents are the last thing I would like to explain. I support the same 4 events, which the YouTube API supports. The only difference is that I wrapped the data of the events in a special YouTube Event for an simpler event handling and code completion.

    [Event(name="youtubeStatus", type="de.derhess.video.youtube.YouTubeEvent")]
[Event(name="youtubePlayerLoaded", type="de.derhess.video.youtube.YouTubeEvent")]
[Event(name="youtubeError", type="de.derhess.video.youtube.YouTubeEvent")]
[Event(name="youtubeVideoQuality", type="de.derhess.video.youtube.YouTubeEvent")]

    So here I is my code of my app. I think it is very self-explanatory...

     /* Here should be some code but wordpress always crashed
because of parsing problems... Please download the code
and look at line number 23-112 in the src folder the file
flex_youTube.mxml */

    The rest of the functions contains exactly the same functionality as the YouTube API. If something ambiguous, please look at the YouTube API documentation or leave a comment. THX!

    Download the Flex YouTube components and source code


    Related posts:

    1. Vimeo Moogaloop in Flex – FlexVimeoPlayer Component
    2. Working with Vimeo Moogaloop API in Flash
    3. Die Gretchenfrage: Wann Flash und wann Flex?

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