TechBookReport on ‘Programming Flex 2’

The move towards rich internet applications (RIA) seems to be unstoppable. Aiming to offer browser-based applications with the speed, flexibility and functionality of traditional desktop applications, companies like Google and others continue to raise the bar as to what you can do in a browser. One of the key technologies in this area has been Ajax, but even with the proliferation of Ajax toolkits and frameworks, there are an increasing range of alternatives. These include JavaFX from Sun, JBoss Seam, Google’s GWT and Microsoft’s Silverlight. And, of course, there’s Adobe’s Flash platform, with it’s massive installed user base and widespread availability of browser plug-ins. Flex 2 is that latest version of the software development kit (SDK) for producing rich internet apps targeting Flash Player 9 run-time environment.