Datasheet
6
Adobe Flex 2
Flex product line overview
As shown in Figure 2, the Flex product family comprises four separate products:
• Flex Soware Development Kit (SDK)—e core component library, development languages,
and compiler for Flex applications
•
Flex Builder IDE—An Eclipse-based development environment that includes code editors,
visual layout tools, project management tools, and an integrated debugger
•
Flex Data Services—A Java server-based application that enables high-performance data
transfer, cross-tier data synchronization and conict management, and real-time data
messaging
•
Flex Charting—A library of extensible charting components that enables rapid construction of
data visualization applications
Flash Player
No discussion of the Flex product would be complete without mentioning Flash Player. Flex
applications are deployed as compiled bytecode that is executed within the Flash Player runtime.
Installed on over 97% of Internet-connected PCs, Flash Player provides a consistent runtime
environment that works across browsers and operating systems, enabling Flex applications to
deliver much greater cross-platform compatibility than other RIA technologies.
Flash Player provides a unique combination of capabilities that developers can use in their applications,
including rich text rendering, powerful graphics APIs, an animation engine, and an integrated
audio/video codec. ese capabilities not only contribute to the rich out-of-the-box look and feel
displayed in Flex applications, but they are also available to developers who need to construct
custom components. By taking advantage of the drawing APIs, for instance, developers can quickly
build a custom component that provides a unique visualization needed by their application.
e ActionScript 3 virtual machine provides a high-performance client-side runtime for application
code. When Flex applications are loaded, the just-in-time compiler translates the cross-platform Flash
bytecode into machine code, enabling rapid client-side data processing and ecient memory management.
is type of performance is particularly important for business applications, in which the requirements
for client-side data sorting and business rule execution are more signicant.
Figure 2: Members of the Flex product line.