So I moved to a Mac when I got my new job in November working at Clearspring and I quickly started missing FlashDevelop as I chugged away in the built-in Actionscript editor in Flash CS3. I've used FlashDevelop for Actionscript coding at home on my PC and have sworn by it, so much so I actually installed Parallels on my Mac but didn't like the work flow it created. And so began my quest to find a Mac equivalent of FlashDevelop. If you are reading this looking for the same thing, let me save you the weeks of searching, it's not out there. At least not for free, but there is hope.
I've read on numerous threads about how people are using Flex Builder for their Actionscript editing and how much better it is for coding/debugging. I started to investigate how easy it was to set things up and came across Ted Patrick's post on "Using Flex Builder for Flash CS3 Coding" and Joshua Bloom's post on "Using Flex Builder to edit and debug Flash Applications." Seemed simple enough, so I recently bit the bullet and bought Flex Builder 3 and must say it was well worth the purchase. If you want to see for yourself, go download the 30-day trial and run through Mike and Joshua's posts on setting it all up. You won't go back to the built-in editor in Flash ever again, and if you do you'll miss your new little friend dearly. Read More »
Adobe just released a new Adobe AIR Update Framework that will aid developers in building AIR applications that can "periodically check for updates based on an interval or at the request of the user." The framework will also provide capabilities The framework comes with a default user interface developers can use to alert users of updates ready for download, confirm the user wants to check for updates, displaying information on availability of updates and showing progress and error information.
Developers can also create their own custom user interface to use with the update framework as well.
On a related note, Adobe also announced the launch fo the AIR Cookbook site where users can share and find answers to problems.
I just did an image search for screen shots of older versions of Adobe Flash and stumbled on this gem of a site. I was particularly fond of the Flash Splash Screens and Corel Draw Splash Screens sections.
Take a walk down memory lane, laugh and wonder how the hell we ever got anything done 10 years ago. Enjoy!
Pretty exciting news out of Adobe. Flex 4 is beginning active development. I am really excited to see what the next round of solutions for the Flash Platform are going to be, especially after the MAX and FITC sneak peaks of Flash Player 10 "Astro" and Adobe "Thermo." Also with the new ECMAScript 4.0 proposal (ES4 Overview PDF)being targeted for this Fall, about the same time as Flex 4 BETA 1, it will be interesting to see if "Actionscript 4" makes its way into the mix. Only time will tell. Read More »
So I was setting up Firefox on a laptop that I don't use on a regular basis and realized that there are a number of add-ons that I use on a regular basis. I also realized how useful and how much easier they make everyday tasks. Please note that this is by far not an exhaustive list of the top Firefox add-ons. If you feel something missed the cut or there is a better alternative to any of the add-ons I've listed here please feel free to post them in the comments.
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