Dynamic Flash

At the same time as releasing Flex 2, Adobe have added an updater for Flash 8 that they’re calling Flash Professional 9 ActionScript 3.0 Preview on Adobe Labs. This seems to replace the previously mentioned Flash 9 beta, and updates Flash 8 to support ActionScript 3.0 when and the new “Document Class” feature (allowing developers to assign a class to the main timeline) when targeting the Flash 9 Player.

For more information, see the Flash Professional 9 ActionScript 3.0 Preview page on Adobe Labs. There’s also a developer center article by Jen & Peter deHaan which introduces the preview.

We’ve all seen 3D in Flash, but the SWFZ 3D Engine from the mysterious Jono is just too cool. Check out the overview when you’re done playing. [via Campbell Anderson]

If you’re looking to get started with Flex 2 application development, you might want to check out the following articles. If you think I’ve missed anything, leave a comment and I’ll add it to the list.

Developing Flex RIAs with Cairngorm Microarchitecture

My namesake Steven Webster from Adobe Consulting introduces the Cairngorm 2.0 Microarchitecture for Flex 2 and walks you through the key features.

• Part 1: Introducing Cairngorm
• Part 2: Keeping State on the Client
• Part 3: Architecting the View
• Part 4: Feature-Driven Development
• Part 5: Server-Side Integration
• Part 6: Rapid and Consistent Development with Cairngorm and Flex

The Kiwi Project

Pretty much every post on The Kiwi Project blog is required reading.

• An Overview of NoteTag
• Dissecting a Mashup: NoteTag’s Reusable Flex Components
• Architecting a Flex App

Continuous Integration with Flex

Paul from eyefodder.com shows you how to integrate your Flex 2 build process with the open source CruiseControl framework for Continuous Integration.

• Introduction
• Part 1: Getting started
• Part 2: Building with ANT
• Part 3: Test output
• Part 4: Testing with ANT
• Part 5: Setting up CruiseControl
• Part 6: Summary