Developing Flex 4 Components

The Complete Insider’s Guide to Building State-of-the-Art Components with Adobe’s Flex 4 Platform

“So many Flex books gloss over the details of component development, or focus just on M

—Adrian Pomilio, UX Developer, Railinc Corp., Cary NC

“Finally, a book that covers Flex components from the ground up. I’ve been working with Flex for several years, but I have to admit that I’ve never quite grasped component development fully, let alone their styling, packaging, and distribution. Thanks for this book, Mike; it was long overdue!”

—Stefan Richter, Editor, FlashComGuru.com; Founder, muchosmedia ltd

Using Adobe’s Flex 4 framework, developers can build rich, immersive solutions more easily and quickly than ever. Much of Flex 4’s remarkable power is based on its component-based approach. Adobe provides many components “out of the box,” but you can accomplish even more by building your own. In Developing Flex 4 Components, world-renowned Flex and Flash developer Mike Jones thoroughly demystifies all facets of Flex component development, showing how to quickly create and deliver high-value components to the widest possible audience.

Jones introduces the Flex 4 component architecture, reviews its built-in components, and shows how they can be extended or incorporated into new components. Next, he walks through developing components from scratch, covering issues ranging from events to skinning. Finally, he turns to distribution, introducing best practices for everything from integration to documentation.

Jones draws on nearly 15 years’ experience developing with Flex and Flash. You’ll find extensive sample code, plus dozens of practical tips that are available nowhere else. After reading this book, you’ll be able to

• Set up your Flex and Flash Builder development environment

• Understand key differences between Flex 3 and Flex 4 component frameworks

• Learn how Flex components are typically structured, developed, and rendered

• Leverage ActionScript and M

• Implement view states, transitions, effects, and events

• Manipulate and store complex data collections

• Use Flex 4’s FXG and M

• Create components with Flash Professional CS5’s drawing tools

• Integrate components with Flash Builder

• Package components for easy distribution with or without source code

• Streamline implementation with manifests, design view extensions, and metadata

If you’re an experienced Flash, Flex, or AIR developer, this book will help you create any component you can imagine—and deliver solutions others can only dream about.