Adobe Flex is an open source framework that allows you to build rich internet applications (RIA’s) that operate and deploy consistently across different operating systems, major browsers and desktops. Examples of Adobe Flex applications can be seen here in the Flex Showcase.
Short History
Adobe Flex (version 1.0) was first released by Adobe back in March 2004 and created quite a stir in the web industry. It was now possible to create real applications that ran in the browser using the Flash Player. The minus side of this new technology was the cost. Flex was first released as a commercial application server with a heavy price tag well over $10,000 USD!
This pretty much priced the new technology out of reach for most companies and individuals, resulting in slow uptake of Adobe Flex.
As with any new technology Adobe Flex had a few teething problems, but on the 25h April 2007, Adobe made an announcement to the developer community, that they were going to release Adobe Flex 3.0 as an open source project. By going open source, this would really increase the uptake of the new technology, but as with other open source technologies (such as PHP and Java), the Flex community could contribute ans shape the future direction of Adobe Flex.
MXML & Action Script
Adobe Flex applications are built using a programming language called Actionscript and MXML. The current version of Actionscript utilised in the industry is Actionscript 3.0.
See what you can develop using flex
Here are some useful examples of the type of application that can be developed using Adobe Flex
- Adobe Dashboard
- Adobe FlexStore
- eBay Desktop Version – Built using Adobe Flex
- Fidelity Investments – Trading Knowledge centre, built using Adobe Flex
- Trenitalia – Real Time train information
- Yahoo Web Messenger
