Datasheet
15
Adobe Flex 2
Interactive debugging
e Flex Builder integrated debugger enables developers to quickly track down and resolve problems
in their applications. e debugging perspective allows them to set breakpoints, inspect variables
and expressions, change values, and monitor trace messages. Applications can be debugged in
standalone Flash Player or in any browser that has Debug Flash Player installed, including remote
machines running a dierent operating system.
Also, because Flex Builder is built on Eclipse, developers can debug Java and Flex applications
side by side using the Eclipse Java debugger together with the Flex ActionScript debugger.
Extensibility
Because Flex Builder is built on the Eclipse platform, developers can easily take advantage of
hundreds of commercial and open source plug-ins available for Eclipse to provide additional
functionality. For example, plug-ins are available for all of the leading source control systems,
as well as common programming languages like C#, C++, and Java, and many of the lifecycle
tool vendors are now delivering tools as Eclipse plug-ins.
Flex Builder also provides an extensibility API, enabling organizations to build custom actions
that automate team tasks (such as integrating with an automated test suite) or to build custom
plug-ins. Developers can share plug-ins for Flex Builder through the Flex Developer Center at
www.adobe.com/devnet/ex.
Flex target applications
While countless types of applications can be enhanced through RIA technology, Flex is particularly
well suited for applications with a distinct set of characteristics, including those that:
• Automate a multistep process, particularly where the steps are nonlinear or recursive
• Combine graphical or multimedia content with data and application logic, particularly where
users must interact with data or media locally
• Require server push or access to real-time streaming data, such as operational data or stock
quote information
• Must operate in a disconnected fashion, for either short or extended periods of time
• Can benet from complex client-side validation, such as logic that depends on previous user
entries or sophisticated validation logic
• Involve large data sets, particularly where client-side data manipulation is important
While many applications embody some or all of these characteristics, they manifest themselves
most frequently in the following use cases.
Figure 9: Flex Builder design view.