Platform Evangelist Michael Chaize demonstrates how new features in Flex 4.5 make it easy to create multiple layouts for applications to run on mobile devices. This is a great video that explains how we need to be aware of user experiences in mobile applications. Michael walks through a couple scenarios where using custom layouts really make a big difference. Not only will you learn when its good to use them but he also walks through some code samples.

This entry was posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:03 PM and has received 1792 views. Comments 0 | Print this entry.

In this edition we are going to look at a really cool sample application. Platform Evangelist Tomas Krcha demonstrates the ability to control an application on your desktop with your mobile device using Flash Builder. I thought this was just really darn cool and I think you will as well.

This entry was posted on July 19, 2011 at 8:55 AM and has received 1510 views. Comments 0 | Print this entry.

In this installment of TV Tuesday we are going mobile. In case you live under a rock Adobe announced the release of Flex 4.5 and Flash Builder 4.5 yesterday. In the video below Developer Evangelist Serge Jespers explains how you can build iOS applications using new capabilities in Flex and Flash Builder 4.5.

This entry was posted on June 21, 2011 at 8:23 AM and has received 2032 views. Comments 5 | Print this entry.

Yesterday I wrote a quick summary on what code templates where. So for today's TV Tuesday I thought it was perfect fit that we look at What's new in Flex 4.5. In this video Developer Evangelist Serge Jespers introduces a few of his favorite features in Flash Builder 4.5, including expanded tutorials and code templates for building mobile apps, and improved debugging features.

What is TV Tuesday? If you would like to find out what this series of blog posts is all about click here. If you have suggestions for future entries in this series please contact me.

This entry was posted on June 14, 2011 at 8:45 AM and has received 1149 views. Comments 0 | Print this entry.

I have been away from Flash Builder and Flex for a little while now so I am catching up on some new features. I have 2 upcoming mobile projects to work on so this is a really great chance for me to get caught up with what has been going on. I have to say the improvements made to Flash Builder and the Flex framework are just flat out amazing. It truly is an enjoyable platform to develop applications on and I hope I have a lot more projects to work on in the future.

This is just a quick tip and most of you probable already know this but I thought I would share it anyways. Code templates speed-up your coding efforts by letting you auto-insert frequently used coding patterns. You can think of them like snippets but to me they are so much better. There are code templates for ActionScript, CSS, MXML and Flash Builder. To use a code snippet simply type the name of the snippet and hit cntrl+space. Templates can use template variables and to me this is what sets them apart from snippets. A template variable is defined within ${}. The variable is resolved based on the corresponding variable definition in the editor. In the case of the for each loop you can tab from index to array to cursor and your inside the loop. Until you really play with this you can't truly appreciate how great it is.

As I stated earlier you can also setup code templates for Flash Builder. This really comes into play when flash builder generates some boiler plate code. I love the fact that you can generate event handlers and to me this is a great time saver. Below is an example of a generated handler in a sample application I wrote yesterday. <fx:Script> <![CDATA[ import mx.events.FlexEvent; protected function browseCanceled(event:Event):void { // TODO Auto-generated method stub } ]]> </fx:Script> Now this is great but something really bothers me with it. I really have OCD when it comes to my code formatting. If code is not formatted a certain way I feel the need to fix it to my liking. I know its pretty odd but I am know I am not alone. I would always generate the handler and then bring that first curly brace up to the line of the method name so it looked like this. <fx:Script> <![CDATA[ import mx.events.FlexEvent; protected function browseCanceled(event:Event):void { // TODO Auto-generated method stub } ]]> </fx:Script> Not a big deal but again I was wasting time on something until I realized yesterday that I could format the generated event handler. Windows > Preferences > Flash Builder > Editors > Code Templates > Flash Builder

You will see a template for event handler. From here you can simply move the curly brace up a line and any generated event handler will now follow your preferences. I ended up making a lot of changes to code templates and added a couple of my own. I would not want to do this on every install of Flash Builder. Luckily they have given you a way to export and import code templates. Just another big kudos to the Flash Platform team. These products have come a long way.

This entry was posted on June 13, 2011 at 11:14 AM and has received 1907 views. Comments 0 | Print this entry.