Programming Flex 2

Chapter 2. Building Applications with the Flex Framework

The majority of this book is dedicated to programming Flex applications, with detailed discussions of working with MXML and ActionScript. However, in order to meaningfully use most of what we discuss in the chapters that follow, you’ll need to know how to create a Flex project, how to compile the project, and how to deploy that project so that you can view it.

In this chapter we’ll discuss important topics such as the tools required for creating Flex applications and how to create new projects for Flex applications. We’ll look at the elements comprising a Flex project and discuss compiling and deploying Flex applications.

Using Flex Tool Sets

In order to work with Flex and build Flex applications, you’ll need tools. At a minimum you must have a compiler capable of converting all your source files and assets into the formats necessary to deploy the application. That means you need to be able to compile MXML and ActionScript files into a .swf file.

There are two primary tools you can use that include the necessary compilers:

• The Flex SDK (Software Development Kit)

• Flex Builder 2

The Flex SDK is a free product that includes the entire Flex framework as well as the mxmlc and compc compilers (see the section "Building Applications" later in this chapter, for more details on the compilers). You can download the SDK at http://www.adobe.com/products/flex/sdk.

Flex Builder 2 is a commercial product designed to work with Flex, and it too includes ...