Top 10 Adobe Flex Misconceptions对ADOBE FLEX的十大误解

　

导读：

　　At QCon, Adobe's James Wardshared with InfoQ.com the top Adobe Flex misconceptions that he encounters in his travels evangelizing the Flex application framework. 对ADOBE FLEX的十大误解

　　Users Need to Install Something New to Run Flex Applications. 用户不需要安装任何东西就可以运行FLEX应用程序

　　Ward, exclusive to InfoQ.com, discusses the Flash adoption rates and Flex programming model: Flash Player 9 is required for Flex 2 &Flex 3. The Flash Player 9 runtime is currently installed on 94% of the world's computers: FLASH播放器其实还是需要的，不过最新的FLASH9的安装覆盖率已经达到了94%http://www.adobe.com/products/player_census/flashplayer/version_penetration.html

　　Flex 2 and Flex 3 applications execute in the Flash Player 9. Flex applications are built on top of the native Flash Player APIs like vector graphics, bitmap manipulation, and networking (which are based on the browser networking stack). The Flex framework adds reusable components like date pickers, data grids, charts, etc. Compiling a Flex application results in a SWF file which is the binary byte code format for the Flash Player. Contained in the SWF file is the byte code for the Flex framework code and a project's custom code. The Flex compiler optimizes the byte code so that only classes which are used go into the SWF file. FLEX2,3在FP9环境下运行，FLEX应用程序工作在FP API（象矢量图形处理，网络）等，FLEX框架只是使用API构建了可重复使用的组件，象DATE PICKER之类的

　　For desktop applications, Adobe is aiming to make their new desktop runtime, dubbed Adobe AIR, as ubiquitous as the web runtime. The 1.0 release of Adobe AIR will be available in the beginning of 2008. Currently, AIR is in beta release from labs.adobe.com. Many companies are already building production applications on AIR. One example, can be seen with eBay's application eBay Desktop. 对于桌面应用，ADOBE也正在目标让他们的程序占据桌面。例如AIR，估计到2008年1月会出第一个RELEASE版本，目前正在BETA测试，但是很多公司已经在使用AIR构建应用程序了，例如eBayDesktop

　　Flash Player is 100% Proprietary. FP是100%私有的

　　Ward continued on this item for InfoQ.com: The core of Flash Player is the Tamarin Virtual Machine, which is an open source project under Mozilla. While the SWF file format is not fully open, it is documented by the community on osflash.org. There are numerous open source products that read and write SWF files. The Flash Player's product direction has traditionally been heavily influenced by the community and their needs. The core language for Flash Player is an implementation of ECMAScript 262, which is the specification for JavaScript. Flex also uses CSS for styling of components / applications. Adobe AIR uses web standards as the basis for desktop applications as well as Open Source technologies like Tamarin, Webkit, and SQLite. FP的核心是Tamarin 虚拟机是MOZILLA旗下的开源项目，而SWF格式不是完全公开的，但是由OSFLASH团体维护文档，已经有无数的开源项目读写SWF格式的文件，FP的开发项目已经收到了这些开源社区的影响，他们的需求决定了FP的发展方向。FP的核心语言是ECMAScript 262也即JAVASCRIPT的规范，FLEX同时也适用了CSS规范作为其UI组件应用程序的格式的规范标准，同时ADOBE也适用了开源的项目作为其技术核心，如TAMARIN,WEBKIT,SQLITE等等

　　Flash is for Designers, Video, and Annoyances. FLASH是为设计者，视频准备的，而且很讨厌

　　In Ward’s July, 2007 blog, “How I Overcame My Fear of Flash,”he discussed this point: Indisputably, the power of Flash has been abused. Pop-ups, pop-overs, skip intros and annoying ads run rampant across our screens. I've heard it said that one should never judge a religion by its abuse. The same adage applies to technology. Flash shouldn't be avoided just because people use it for annoying things. After all, e-mail isn't avoided just because spammers happen to abuse it. Ward elaborated on the topic for InfoQ.com: Traditionally Flash content was built with the timeline based tool for designers. Flex is the developer toolset for building Flash based content / applications. Designers and developers can work together by sharing assets between the two tools. Flex adds a comprehensive component base: WARD在讨论“我是如何克服对flash的恐惧的时候”谈到，毋庸置疑的，FLASH的力量被滥用了，弹出式，跳入界面，全屏的执行。 我听说过人们不应该因为一个宗教的兰斯而否定它，同样对Flash也是这样的，FLASH不能因为有些人拿它来做令人讨厌的东西而遭到所有人的摒弃，正如EMAIL并没有因为垃圾邮件泛滥而消失一样。

传统的FLASH构建的是基于时间轴的应用，是设计者的基础工具。但是flex是为开发者构建的开发基于FLASH内容的应用程序。

　　http://www.adobe.com/go/flex_explorer_app

　　http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?event=productHome&exc=15&loc=en_us

　　Flex is Not for Enterprise / Business Applications. FLEX不是为企业级应用程序准备的

　　Over the last few weeks, Ward published a seven part blog series on a number of new Oracle applications implemented in Adobe Flex.The applications, which were announced at the recent Oracle OpenWorld, ranged from sales tools, to database management, and business intelligence. 在过去的数周丽，WARD一系列的文章关于在FLEX的基础之上构建ORACLE类的大型应用的，过去的数周，ORACLE开源世界涌现出了很多这样的企业级应用，从销售工具到数据库管理，以及商业智能等等。

　　In addition to Oracle’s usage of Flex, InfoQ.com published a piece recapping a number of groups using Flex for enterprise applications.Ward also points out to InfoQ.com, that there are numerous examples of enterprise applications being developed with Adobe Flex, including work at: Workday, SAP, Salesforce, and Business Objects. 各个大型网站的调查显示基于FLEX的大型应用正如雨后春笋般涌现

　　Flex is Expensive. FLEX非常昂贵

　　Ward detailed a number of things Adobe has done to address the cost concerns: Flex is a free, and soon to be open sourced, developer toolkit for building Rich Internet Applications for the web and the desktop. This free SDK includes everything a developer needs to build RIAs that work the same on any browser or operating system. Part of the free Flex SDK is an extensive set of components which are extensible, skinable, and accessible. You can see many of these components in the Flex Component Explorer: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/samples/code_explorer/ WARD详述了ADOBE所做的一系列努力来消除公众对此的误解，FLEX是免费的，而且马上要开源了（截至发稿时已经开源了）。免费的SDK包括了开发者构建RIA应用所需的所有的工具。

　　Flex Builder is an optional plugin for Eclipse which makes developing applications with the free Flex SDK more efficient. It includes features like integrated debugging, design view, and code completion. FB是一个可选的基于ECLIPSE的使得构建应用更加简单，有效的插件。包括了即时调试，设计视图，代码补全等功能

　　The Flex Builder pricing has changed in quite a few ways recently. Flex Builder is now free for Students and Faculty. The price for the vanilla Flex Builder, without the charting components, has been reduced to $249 to better balance the tiered pricing for Flex Builder. FLEX有多种授权方式，对于学生和教育是免费的，VANILLA版本的FB大约249USD

　　There are a number of options for building backend infrastructure for Flex Applications. To take advantage of the high performance AMF data transfer protocol, there are official Adobe products like LiveCycle Data Services, as well as numerous open source projects like Granite Data Services. Using AMF removes the unnecessary steps of converting data to text (SOAP, RESTful, etc), transferring it, and then converting it back to data. AMF also allows type information to be preserved across the wire.To see a comparison of AMF to other text based serialization technologies, see James Ward's Census RIA Benchmark application: http://www.jamesward.org/census. 此外FLEX使用AMF协议来构建新一代的WEB SERVICE

　　Flex Applications Require a Special Server. FLEX的应用程序需要一个特别的服务器

　　Once again, Ward speaking with InfoQ.com: Flex applications can run on top of any web server, application server, and database server. Flex applications are much more like client-server applications. Since the logic is running on the client inside the Flash Player, you need some way of communicating with the server. There are many different options for how you connect Flex to your infrastructure. Without any special libraries, you can expose your back-end data and services as RESTful, XML, or SOAP and easily consume that data in your Flex application. If you choose to use the AMF binary serialization protocol, you may need to add some additional libraries into your web application. AMF is just another serialization technology, like XML or JSON, so it can be one of the various methods you use to communicate to your back-end SOA. FLEX的应用程序可以运行在任何的服务器之上，任何的数据服务器之上，由于用户逻辑是在客户端运行的，可以使用很多的方法来和服务端进行交互，可以使用RESTful ,XML SOAP。 如果你选择使用AMF二进制序列化协议，你需要添加一些额外的库到你的WEB服务器，AMF是和XML,JSON一样的另一个序列化技术

　　Flex is Hard to Learn. FLEX很难学

　　Leftie Friele, from the InfoQ.com community, posted a comment on the InfoQ.com piece “Who is Using Flex?”,detailing his company’s experience in learning Flex: Our startup company, Ezmo, have used Flex since the start and we're extremely happy with the framework.

　　Without any prior knowledge of Flex/Flash, we built our application in less than two weeks. The integration between Java and Flex is super simple, and getting started with Flex is just a walk in the park. 不需要任何FLEX/FLASH的知识，我们可以在两周之内构建出基于FLEX的应用程序，将FLEX和JAVA进行整合更是超级容易，FLEX的起步只是在谈话之间的事情

　　The tool support is very good too with Flex Builder. You get the familiar surroundings of Eclipse and you are off and running without many problems. The one thing that is missing is better tools for continuous integration and better plugins into Maven for building Flex applications. For those new to Flex, Ward has a Screencast showing a Flex application being builtto help get you started. There are also numerous other articles about using Flex and Java in the Adobe Developer Connection. 说到工具支持的话，那么FB也是相当不错的，如果你熟悉ECLIPSE那么你使用FLEX就不会碰到任何问题。缺失的可能是想MAVEN那样支持持续集成的应用插件，对于新手们而言，可以在网上找到漫天的HELLOWORD截图教程

　　With Flex, I Will Need to Rebuild My Entire Application. 使用FLEX，我需要全部重建我的应用

　　In January, Bruce Eckel published an article titled, “Hybridizing Java.”He argues that the Java community should continue using the good parts of Java, but should use other technologies where Java is weak. His primary focus in the article is using Adobe Flex for user interfaces, instead of the traditional Java options (Swing, JSF, etc…). 1月份BRUCE ECKEL发表了一篇文章，呼吁java团体应该继续使用JAVA的好的方面，但是应该考虑使用其他的技术来代替JAVA弱的方面，他集中讨论了使用FLEX来实际UI而不是什么SWING ,JSF等

　　Ward elaborates on this concept: Since Flex applications are just the UI piece of an application the back-end usually stays the same. If your back-end was built following the SOA pattern then it is usually very easy to expose those services out to a new Flex UI. This preserves your existing business logic whether it is in EJBs, Spring services, POJOs, etc. 既然FLEX应用程序只是到端的UI片段，那么后台应该是一样的，你可以使用SOA,可以使用EJB,SPRING,POJO等等

　　Flex Breaks Normal Browser Functionality, Like the Back Button. FLEX打破了常规的浏览习惯，例如后退按钮

　　Ward’s blog discusses the back button:In Flex, back button support is built in and easily customizable so this was never an issue. Flex also provides an easy way to do hashmark urls (or named anchors), so the url changes as application state changes. Another Web 1.0 integration problem solved. Ward adds more details for InfoQ.com: Flex 3 provides a simple way for applications to store state parameters in a named anchor and correctly restore state based on those parameters when the URL is requested. More information about this feature can be found in the Flex 3 Feature Introductions Deep Linking documentation. 在FLEX中，后退按钮可以非常容易的定制，而且不再是个问题，FLEX同样提供了超链接机制来模拟浏览习惯。URL随着应用程序的状态改变

　　Accessibility has always been very important for Flex applications. Since the Flash Player works with Jaws and other accessibility technologies, the capability for adding accessibility to Flash based applications is there. The Flex framework builds accessibility into the core framework. There are many different pieces of accessibility depending on what impairments and disabilities your application needs to support. You can find out more about the accessibility features of Flex in the Developer's Guide.可访问性对于FLEX应用来说很重要，FLEX将可访问性作为框架内核级的问题进行了考虑，有多种可访问性的策略，更具你应用的需要。可以在MANNUAL里找到这方面更详细的资料

　　I Can Do Everything Flex Does With Ajax. FLEX能够做的，AJAX也都能做

　　Ward explains: RIA with Flex and Ajax is not either/or. Sites like Google Financeshow how you can use Flex and Ajax together. Ajax is very good for content-centric applications, while Flex is very good for interactive, media, and data-centric applications. If your application is somewhere in between the two sides of that spectrum, then you can use the Flex Ajax Bridge to combine the two technologies. In Flex 3, the Flex Ajax Bridge is integrated directly into the SDK. If you are using Flex 2, you will need to download the Flex Ajax Bridge separately. Also, from the InfoQ.com community, Michael Marth commented on why his group chose Flex: We use Flex 2 for our soon-to-launch online dating site viibee.com 使用FLEX的RIA和使用AJAX的应用不是并列的关系。想GOOGLE FINANCE这样的站点展示了你如何同时使用AJAX和FLEX构建应用，AJAX非常适合那种以内容为中心的应用，而FLEX则适合于RIA,媒体，数据为中心的应用。如果你的应用介于这两者之间那你可以使用AJAX FLEX桥来组合这两种技术，在FLEX3里面FLEXAJAX桥已经直接整合到框架中了。

　　The reason: Flex enabled us to create a user experience far beyond anything that we could have done with a comparable effort in Javascript/Ajax. For those of you in the InfoQ.com community, are these misconceptions you have held about the Adobe Flex framework? Are there additional barriers that Adobe has yet to address, which are keeping you from using the Flex application framework?

　

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