Flex 3 Bible [Paperback]

David Gassner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 11, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0470287640 | ISBN-13: 978-0470287644 | Edition: 1

Flex your development muscles with this hefty guide

Write programs using familiar workflows, deliver rich applications for Web or desktop, and integrate with a variety of application servers using ColdFusion, PHP, and others-all with the new Flex Builder 3 toolkit and the comprehensive tutorials in this packed reference. You'll learn the basics of Flex 3, then quickly start using MXML, ActionScript, CSS, and other tools to create applications that can run on any browser or operating system.

• Install and learn how to use Flex Builder 3
• Explore MXML, ActionScript 3, and the anatomy of a Flex application
• Lay out Flex controls and containers, and use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to create look and feel
• Incorporate Advanced List controls, Flex charting components, and data entry forms
• Integrate your Flex applications with a variety of application servers
• Create cross-operating system desktop applications with Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR)

Companion Web Site
Visit www.wiley.com/go/flex3 to access code files for the projects in the book.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Flex your development muscles with this hefty guide

Write programs using familiar workflows, deliver rich applications for Web or desktop, and integrate with a variety of application servers using ColdFusion, PHP, and others—all with the new Flex Builder 3 toolkit and the comprehensive tutorials in this packed reference. You'll learn the basics of Flex 3, then quickly start using MXML, ActionScript, CSS, and other tools to create applications that can run on any browser or operating system.

• Install and learn how to use Flex Builder 3

• Explore MXML, ActionScript 3, and the anatomy of a Flex application

• Lay out Flex controls and containers, and use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to create look and feel

• Incorporate Advanced List controls, Flex charting components, and data entry forms

• Integrate your Flex applications with a variety of application servers

• Create cross-operating system desktop applications with Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR)

Companion Web Site
Visit www.wiley.com/go/flex3 to access code files for the projects in the book.

About the Author

David Gassner is the President of Bardo Technical Services, an Adobe Systems Authorized Training Partner. He holds Adobe developer certifications in Flex, AIR, ColdFusion, Flash, and Dreamweaver. David is the author of technical training videos from Lynda.com on Adobe Flex, AIR, ColdFusion, and Dreamweaver, and he is a regular contributor to ColdFusion Journal and XML Journal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 978 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (August 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470287640
• ISBN-13: 978-0470287644
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #728,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Cross-platform Development

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough coverage by a real teacher, September 18, 2008

By 

Dean R. Pittsinger (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flex 3 Bible (Paperback)

This 900+ page book is a seriously meticulous walk-through of all the essential aspects of developing Flex applications as of the Flex 3 release. After a tiny bit of history, the author wastes no time in getting right to the Eclipse IDE in it's Flex 3 incarnation. One indication of the thoroughness of this book is in the fact that he spends 7 pages entirely devoted to the "html-template" folder within a Flex project! And I don't know how many other Flex books out there (as I write this in 2008):

* Show you how to override the clone() function for event bubbling
* Describe the use of Flex 3 advanced layout constraints like constraintRows and constraintColumns
* Spend 6 pages showing you how to create skinning graphics in Flash CS3
* Describe the all-important facts surrounding switchable-container creation policy and deferred instantiation
* Show you how to use the BindableComboBox that comes with the ColdFusion Extensions for Flex Builder
* Walk you through how to group flat data with the GroupingCollection and the Advanced DataGrid
* Show you how to install and configure a Flex-BlazeDS-Java application
* Show you how to configure and develop a Flex-Coldfusion application
* Show you how to create a Flex-ASP.NET application
* Show you how to create a Flex-PHP application

It is a testament to the depth of the Flex API and to the inherent complexity of ANY serious front-end development platform that I can say that even with this book, there are still some pretty important things that are not covered. There's no coverage of the History Manager or deep linking, no coverage of the ExternalInterface API, no coverage of how to use Cairngorm or other frameworks to keep a large application from becoming a tangled mess. But the book is already pretty darn thick, and it had to end somewhere. Basically, I think that with this book plus a good book devoted to ActionScript 3, the motivated novice-to-intermediate Flex developer would be good to go. Excellent book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True to its title, October 13, 2008

By 

Scott Gardner "Software developer and consult... (Central IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Flex 3 Bible (Paperback)

I've watched both of David's lynda.com video series (Flex 3 Essentials and Beyond the Basics, which are excellent by the way), and I am now reading this book. His depth of knowledge is apparent, yet his ability to convey the simplest to the most complex topics in an easy to understand and logical manner are what really separate his books/videos from the pack. He's not afraid to tackle the more complex subjects that many books state, "are beyond the scope of this book," with amazing clarity. In particular, his coverage of data services is unparalleled in current works. While there are many excellent books out there on Flex that whet your appetite, this one satisfies it. This book is structured so that you can read it cover to cover or jump to a specific section that interests you (it is excellently cross-referenced, within itself and to resources on the Internet), which makes it quite useful as both a learning tool and desk reference. I only wish was available in PDF format. Complete source code is available at the book's homepage. If you're looking to learn Flex, do yourself a favor and get this book and watch his Flex video series at lynda.com. Thanks David!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very well-rounded book, March 19, 2009

By 

Amanda Machutta "SpinGrrl" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flex 3 Bible (Paperback)

I purchased this book about a week ago and am very pleased with it. I actually sat at Borders with 3 different Flex 3 books and flipped through them all to see which ones would fit my needs. this was the cheapest of the 3, and also the most thorough. I'm a flex 2 developer who was looking for a good trainer on Flex3 as well as more advanced and indepth information on the framework itself. This book is great for just that. I don't know if I would recommend it to a new developer - probably a book sectioned by lessons and hands on stuff would be better for you, but if you are already a seasoned developer who is looking for MORE, this book will fit ur needs.

Only downside I did find with this book is it is FILLED with typos. Luckily they aren't in areas that are too damaging or cause the material to be overly confusing if you already know what you are doing.

Amanda