Datasheet
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Adobe Flex 2
Other developer tools
Adobe works with third-party application development lifecycle solution providers to help
ensure Flex works with standard tools and processes. Adobe also supports several open source
projects that facilitate Flex development. Some key initiatives include:
• Functional testing—
As part of the Flex 2 release, Adobe is working with Mercury Systems to enable
users to create and execute automated testing scripts from within Mercury QuickTest Professional.
• Unit testing
—Modeled on the JUnit test framework, Flex Unit is an open source library that
enables developers to create automated unit tests for ActionScript code.
• Performance and load testing
—Adobe has collaborated with Mercury and Borland (formerly
Segue) to integrate Flex with their industry-leading load testing tools.
• Cairngorm
—Cairngorm is an architectural framework designed and maintained by the Adobe
Developer Center. Available as a free open source project, Cairngorm enhances Flex development
by providing a standard architecture and methodology for handling user gestures on the client and
mapping them to business logic and server interactions through a centralized client controller.
For more information on any of these projects, visit the Flex Developer Center at
www.adobe.com/devnet/ex.
Flex Data Services
Flex Data Services extends the capabilities of the Flex client framework by providing additional
services for managing data transfer and integrating with existing applications and infrastructure.
As illustrated in Figure 6, Flex Data Services ts into an organization’s existing deployment
environment. It is implemented as a Java web application and can be deployed on standard Java
application servers, including IBM WebSphere, BEA WebLogic, Adobe JRun, JBoss, Tomcat, and
others.
e services provided by Flex Data Services integrate with the existing security proles dened
within the Java application server. Flex Data Services can be deployed using standard deployment
tools provided with the server and can integrate with application server clustering features to
enable highly available applications. In addition, applications built with Flex Data Services can
access existing server-side session data and application logic using standard Java APIs.
Figure 6: Flex is designed to integrate cleanly with the existing infrastructure.
Browser/
Flash Player
App
server
Flex 2 in the enterprise architecture
Business tier
Integration tier
Resource tier
EJB, POJO
Connectors to data and legacy systems
Flex framework
Flex Data Services
SOAP HTTP/S AMF RTMP/S
User interface components and client-side logic
Application and data connectivity
Data management and messaging
Open adapter architecture
DBMS LDAP CRM/ERP Web services