I was recently (as in two days ago) working on a project that I was trying to debug on both the server-side and the client (flex) side. I had turned on eclipse debugging for my application server (JBoss 4.0.5GA) and everything was going well. I then tried to debug my Flex app to see if the data going into the server was being put together right and causing the failure server-side. I know Service Capture will show me what's going across the wire, but I wanted to see, for sure that things were being built right in Flex. Something unexpected (at the time), but not unreasonable happened when I tried to concurrently start Flex Debugging in Ecilpse: Flex Builder bombed out, big time. No errors, no warning, just gone. The lesson: Debug only one layer at a time and not the whole app front to back.

I had a good turnout today at my session - Building Java Powered Flex Apps. In retrospect, I really should have called it "Building BlazeDS Powered Flex Apps because I pretty much covered implementation of all of Blaze's functionality. Anyway, I promised people I would have the code up tonight, so here it is: The Code (Right Click and save) Tomorrow is a session on community open source projects (Flexlib, OpenFlux, Merapi, etc). Come on by and enjoy some open source goodness.

Will you be at the Flex Open Source Panel at 360Flex? Come see and talk to open source project developers discuss the nuances of open source projects.

By now, unless you've been under a rock, you know what ANT (another neat tool) can do for you as far as build files go. If you haven't then let me sum it up for you: With ANT, you can test, build, and deploy your applications. I was in need of a tool for my ANT builds that did a SVN update to grab the latest source before building. A little google goes a long way. I came upon the Subclipse site. Subclipse is a powerful SVN plugin for Eclipse. I use it al the time and know it well. After a bit of digging on their site, I came upon something I had not noticed before on their site: SvnAnt. What this nifty little task will allow you to do is checkout, commit, update, and any other SVN action right from your ANT build files. So, how do you use SvnAnt? Well first, after you download it, make sure to put the required jars in ANT's classpath. You also need to have the "svn" command available from the command line. After you have those requirements met, you configure your ANT build file like this: build.xml: <?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- Sample build file used to retrieve svnant's sources -->
<project name="svn-test" basedir="." default="checkoutThis">

<!-- all properties are in build.properties -->
<property file="build.properties" />

<!-- path to the svnant libraries. Usually they will be located in ANT_HOME/lib -->
<path id="svnant.classpath">
<fileset dir="${lib.dir}">
<include name="**/*.jar"/>
</fileset>
</path>

<!-- load the svn task -->
<typedef resource="org/tigris/subversion/svnant/svnantlib.xml" classpathref="svnant.classpath" />

<target name="clean">
<delete dir="src_latest"/>
<delete dir="src_${svnant.version}"/>
</target>

<target name="checkoutLatest">
<svn username="${svnant.repository.user}" password="${svnant.repository.passwd}">
<checkout url="${svnant.latest.url}" revision="HEAD" destPath="src_latest" />
</svn>
</target>

<target name="checkoutThis">
<svn username="${svnant.repository.user}" password="${svnant.repository.passwd}">
<checkout url="${svnant.this.url}" revision="HEAD" destPath="src_${svnant.version}" />
</svn>
</target>

</project> build.properties: # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# build.properties
# This file is referenced by the sample build.xml file.
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

svnant.version=1.1.0-RC2

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# all jar needed
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
lib.dir=lib

svnant.latest.url=http://subclipse.tigris.org/svn/subclipse/trunk/svnant/
svnant.this.url=http://subclipse.tigris.org/svn/subclipse/tags/svnant/${svnant.version}/

svnant.repository.user=guest
svnant.repository.passwd="" Happy building!

Flex or AJAX? Which one is better? Which one will "win" in the RIA space? I am tired of this argument. I'm tired of seeing posts on MXNA keeping this debate alive. It's a non-issue, really. I think that people make it an issue when they try, or investigate, each technology and find one easier than the other then run with that technology's banner. Flex and AJAX can, should, and do exist in the same space. Their goal is the same: A rich UI and breaking the old and busted request-response model with the new hotness of the event-driven model. Both technologies can achieve the same goal, but via different paths. I think we, as a community, also need to talk about something else. Flex is not for everyone. Not every ColdFusion developer can be a Flex developer. AJAX, from a learning curve standpoint, is safer for the ColdFusion developer. It's easier, especially with the abundance of frameworks out there designed to make AJAX simple (Spry, jQuery, etc). As ColdFusion developers, we are graced with a tool that makes things very easy for us, and that's the way some of us like it. AJAX lets you leverage your existing JavaScript skill set to get to the "rich" part of RIAs quickly. You don't have to learn anything new if you already know JavaScript. Conversely, Flex is not easy to learn for a ColdFusion developer (or anyone else for that matter). Yet, once you learn it, it is even more difficult to master. I don't think there are a large number of people who will argue with that fact. That steep learning curve can lead to a fear of Flex, and fear can lead to anger, and that anger is what, in my opinion, fuels a lot of these "Flex vs. AJAX" arguments. When you take the fear of the new out of it, Flex and AJAX can peacefully co-exist in the same browser without any debate. Even if you don't add Flex or AJAX to your skill set does that mean your skills are marginalized? Not in the least. There is still a server-side component that needs to be developed. There will always be a demand for server-side development. The prime market now, however, is for developers who have a broad range of skills. It's never a safe practice to put all your eggs in one basket. These pieces each have their places in a given environment. Sometimes Flex is a better option and sometimes AJAX is the better option. It all depends on the requirements, the team, and the application. They're both viable. They're both part of the future, and they're both changing the face of the web as we know it. So, let's go forth into the brave new world of RIA technology equality. Give Flex and AJAX their equal place and let's stop these senseless arguments. If you're afraid of getting into Flex, go to a conference, take a class, read a book. Work through your fear. If you're inclined to AJAX, embrace that and run with it. Just stop arguing and develop.