The Macromedia MAX 2005 conference concluded recently. Macromedia announced Flex 2 public alpha too and Flex 2 looks very promising. The biggest things to note are:
- You can now build Flex based RIA without the Flex server
- The bundle includes FlexBuilder 2, an Eclipse based IDE to create Flex apps
- Flex 2 charting components
- Flash Player 8.5 (especially ActionScript 3 – it’s just like C#/Java now)
Abdul has posted a nice message on the RIA-India group about Flex 2 release and why you should get started on it.
There are three nice video tutorials about Flex 2 on Macromedia Labs.
Side notes:
- I am impressed by the increasing use of Video for delivering tutorials and presentations by Macromedia.
- Also the community focus is back. Macromedia Labs has a wiki.
- The Macromedia Blogs are buzzing with MAX 2005 comments. People seem really excited.
- I have two downloads happening side by side, Flex 2 alpha and OpenLaszlo3.1rc3. RC3 also has quite a few enhancements and I am excited to compare both these platforms.
- I am also pleased with Eclipse. We are trying out Zend Studio 5 beta 2 too right now, and I am wondering if we should adopt Eclipse for all development in the organization!