Flex: A Change for Good

It seems that finally somebody in Adobe is thinking differently. The partnerships that Flex has made with Spring and some aggressive work on Java integration should put back Flex where it rightly belongs. After many wrong steps, finally a sensible product manager who thinks about the ecosystem and not just his product. It doesn't mean that the battle is over, and Adobe has to still work hard to get it going for mobile devices more efficiently. Still, compared to the mess in previous years, good job!

I am putting up my technical review notes in this online doc

Respite for Adobe

Some respite for Adobe as Apple has agreed to ease certain restrictions on the use of Adobe software. Adobe's strength lies in desktop softwares to develop graphic applications and UI. In the rich-internet application (RIA) arena, it still lags behind. Acquisition of Maromedia and Flash has not translated into leadership position that it may have hoped for, though Flash video streaming did turn out to be a winner. Even that may be lost to HTML5 if Adobe is not careful. Its about time that Adobe digested Flash and gets back to the good performance that is expected out of a company of its calibre, failing which it would be only fair for developers to punish it further.

Flash's Final Gambit: Droid 2

After some serious lack of imaginative development, shoddy product management and heavy criticism, it seems that Adobe has decided to play an all or nothing hand with Droid 2. This article in PC World brings out the point very well. I think it would help Adobe either defend Flash for mobile devices or seriously re-think its development strategy for the same.

Going for the Jugular

Double wham! On one hand Steve Jobs comes out with an open letter explaining why he won't support Flash on Apple devices, on other hand Microsoft announced that IE9 will use only the H.264 standard to play HTML 5 video. Bad news for Flash and will definitely affect its reach and power.

In my opinion, it is time for Microsoft to go for the jugular. It has Silverlite coming up as a credible alternative to both Flash Developer 4 and javaScript for developing RIAs. It has the marketing knowledge, distribution network and the good sense to achieve what Flex could not. In the process, it may end up displacing Flash from RIA arena and making good revenues. My free advice would be better start moving on with Silverlite and focus on the obliteration of Flash!

From Flex 3 to Flash Developer 4: Thumbs Down

Flex 4 has turned out to be Flash Developer 4. It seems that Adobe decided that since Flash was a stronger brand it would be perhaps wiser to merge Flex with Flash. Ultimately it was about developing flash media more effectively, and in that sense the merger does make some sense. Nevertheless, I feel that first Adobe neglected the Flex brand, slept on its laurels, saw Flex usage drop down, did not know how to catch-up and decided to roll it all into with Flash. After all that's all it was, wasn't it? I am not totally convinced.

We have lost Datagrid and some other Flex 3 components and compile times will not improve substantially either. I am also not convinced that Adobe will be able to effectively mix two different paradigms: Rich Internet Application development and animation. The result may be an unappealing mix that puts off both type of users. Not all is bleak though, as we are promised better debugging and backend integration. I don't even feel like evaluating the new offering, but will to see how bad it really is (or, I hope, perhaps be surprised to discover the opposite).

I am increasingly confident that Flex/Flash will further loose the RIA market to JS based competitors. Yet again, I am disappointed by Adobe's development strategy. As much as I liked Flex, I am sorry to say I may not like sticking with it if this trend continues. And for all newbies to RIA, I would warn keep clear of Adobe till these guys mend their ways and approach product development keeping in mind their target market.

A Careful "No" to GWT

Well, GWT is alright. But I am convinced that it may not be the way forward, though many of its ideas and approaches are reasonably good.

The primary problem is that I really don't like compiling my code every time to see the smallest of changes. This is one biggest reason that I would prefer a JavaScript-HTML5 based framework and an IDE that makes it easier to develop thus. Secondly, learning and using GWT can be simpler if you are a good programmer or have worked with Java Swing. Otherwise the learning curve for a web developer can be quite steep. Finally, I am not really convinced by its handling of testing, its ability to make maintenance easier and browser compatibility issues.

All-in-all, it is back to exploring other solutions to developing RIA solutions more effectively. Will keep you posted.

Exploring Google Web Toolkit

With YUI, Flex, TIBCO and Ext; somehow I managed to ignore Google Web Toolkit (GWT). It suddenly struck me that by making JavaScript generation Java based, GWT perhaps addresses two extremely important problems with new-generation UI code: maintainability and debugging. Since there are umpteen Java based IDEs, this should be interesting. I will have to explore it a little to assess how powerful and easy it can be compared to other solutions, but I think it does merit a thorough exploration. More when I am through with it!