The most important question to me, why he post such a public letter dedicated on Flash?

He fears.

A large number of devices, from Google, HP (with Palm), RIM, and other big companies, attacking the market share of iPhone, iPad very soon, with Flash. It’ll be threat for his early comments on Flash. He fears his words broken.

His App Store was a great success, but his decision to kick CS5 out from iDevices, which also drive away developers who planned to write apps with Flash. Instead he hoped us developing with Apple-C (yes we can, but we choose not), lots of CS5 developers will develop apps for his competitors. He fears his store no longer moving to next billions.

As one of the greatest CEO in the world (yes exactly he is, with great respect), he fears the decision to reject Flash, Flash designer/developer community is a fault, he’s now on the top of mountain, higher risks than his days in the valley. He fears he’ll no longer Mr. Jobs the Great.

We believe in Choice

Mr. Jobs believe in choice, other than Flash, developers can write application with Apple-C, or Javascript. We too, we believe we have options to use better tools at our hands, not forced to use specific technologies. If Mr. Jobs did the right decision, there will be a number of developers use Flash to develop apps quickly, if we find some performance or other problems, we can rewrite with Apple-C not Flash for best user experiences for consumers (we can even write with assembly).

Otherwise, the choice for iDevice, return -1.

The following code is how it to be used in Flash/Flex application:

That simple? Sure it is.

Don’t forget, in AIR applications, using SQLite we MUST use asynchronous connections for user experiences. The framework will do rest hard jobs for you.

Framework Features:

• SQLConnection instances reused.
• SQLStatement instances reused.
• Statements executed in queue automatically, no extra control required.
• Dealing with SQLite locks inside framework.
• Feedback(result/fault) functions can be reused, similar with pureMVC’s handleNotifications.
• Support to run feedback functions not original object, i.e. a view sent a query then closed, after query complete, run feedback function in another object/view.
• All statement/connection objects managed and resources can be cleaned.

SQLite Performance Best Practices

It’s important to get benefit of maximum performance of database, SQLite has its own specifications. One of them, Adobe has already documented, is the cached statements, cached statements can be reused and increase performance largely.

The second one, I didn’t see anyone mentioned it (maybe I missed), is the lock system of SQLite.

SQLite has a special lock system, have a look the figure followed:

Here’s several important rules about SQLite lock system:

• A connection can have only one transaction (working statement) at a time.
• SQLite can have multiple read transactions(read statement) and one single write transaction(write statement) at the same time.
• When the write transaction working or waiting, no more new connections can work.
• The waiting write transaction will be executed only after all other read transactions complete.

The third one, using SQLTransactionLockType.IMMEDIATE for write transaction can improve performance when necessary.

My solution implement first and second, the last one I didn’t find a good solution to use it in asynchronous connection mode, will talk it later.

Framework Structure

The framework include three major classes:

• SQLManager
• ConnectionPool, manage and reuse connections for statements.
• StatementManager, add/remove statements.

These object classes/interface used by the framework:

• SQLiteStatement, after an operation finished, it run feedback based on caller and function(string). Feedback function can be different to the original view(object).
• SQLiteConnection
• CachedStatement, statement cannot to be run immediately will be cached as a CachedStatement in waiting list.
• ISQLResponder, optional interface for caller view/object.

Framework workflow

• Create instance for a database file (file can not exist even)
• Add statements when needed, statements will be initialized.
• View call for execute one or several statements with statement_id, set result/fault function, and flag whether need to ignore fault (if ignore, sqlite will continue to run waiting statements)
• SQLManager get statement instance, or cache your request to a waiting list if already used.
• SQLManager ask ConnectionPool to apply a SQLiteConnection for statement to execute.
• Statement try to execute, if SQLConnection not connected, waiting for that connection and execute.
• Statement completed/fault, call feedback function with statement_id (if asked), and execute next waiting statement if exist.

The framework keep minimum instances of SQLConnection and SQLStatement, and easy to be removed as they’re managed for garbage collection.

I’m not going to publish source code right now as it’s not a complete framework yet.

SWF Encrypt

For a long time I was impressed by SWF Encrypt, although it’s not a real encryption, should be something interest if it can obfuscate code well for me.

Sothink Decompiler

In AS2 days I used to use the free Flare written by Igor Kogan, it was a great tool to help to search where co-workers hide their code inside FLA files. But now I need a AS3 version it no longer support. I read a post by Lee Brimelow about Sothink decompler several months before, so I would like to give it a try.

Test

SWF Encrypt trial version let me try 25 times, I made a secure swf from my AIR swf file.

Sothink Decompiler can read my origin AIR swf file easily, include almost all assets and code packages. Unfortunately the trial version do not let me check source code.

I found code structure in Sothink quite clear and accurate matching my own code base. I decided to buy it as the price not a problem $79.

Result

From my original AIR swf file, Sothink can read almost all my code, that….hell!

From secure AIR swf file, Sothink again, read most of my code, only several properties and function names hide.

Conclusion

First, the dark side, our code is definitely not safe.

Second, I do not feel SWF Encrypt doing its own job, I hope it can at least change my property/function names so even decompilers can take out all code, still hard to understand. SWF Encrypt really hide several properties/function names, but only very few of them.

Third, I found Sothink useful. Flex framework itself is a giant code base, Sothink decompiler code give some other code we cannot see and realize in MXML files.

Update: finty is right. I forgot Flex compiler can generate source code itself.

No doubt some developers from Flex community not easy to understand what’s the meaning when a Flash developer complaining (AS3 === AS3) = false, as the majority of Flex developers do not know too much about development in Flash IDE. The feeling of ‘second class citizens’ for Flash developers in Flex development also could not make sense to some of them.

I would like to say, there’s no different AS3 language itself whatever Flash IDE or Flex, but the way of coding is wholly different and big changes for Flash developers when try to work with Flex.

Rapid application development

My favorite Flex blogger Yakov Fain had a Flex and Java book in 2006, Flex Builder was a ‘RAD tool’ in that book, but some months later, a new post said ‘Flex 2 is not a RAD tool‘ telling the real truth. He also questioned the usage of dominated Cairngorm framework for Flex applications. Despite of some questions like these, however, Flex development is target to RAD. Although even today, the question asked by bosses ‘how to make a complex Flex application fast, extendable, fast UI change, great usabilities for every components and views, largely reusable classes to fit for different structures, tested fully with agile methods fast and easily, less developers and hours’ still no one-fit-all answer, Flex teams are working the way into RAD at some percents.

The RAD nature of Flex making the big difference between Flash IDE applications and Flex applications, as Flash applications are more focus on Creative and User Experiences. Flash IDE projects are mostly like to be design-driven, with smooth workflow between designers and Flash IDE developers. While Flex application must largely adopt design patterns, restricted by components-base structure, agreement such as framework, patterns, coding style, between developers now and future.

Developing Flex applications, Flash IDE Developers have to learn more design patterns and structure frameworks, reading Flex SDK source code, get familiar with Flex components functions/events/behaviors, struggle with SDK bugs.

Design challenges

Early months before, I got impression from Adobe’s seminars/articles that, Flex framework is to give you a fast, powerful, extendable component-container collections, easy to change with CSS and bitmaps. And you can easily extend design with Flash IDE even. That’s not the truth in real world. That’s what talent Flash/Flex developer Jesse Warden talking about design challenges.

I used to have a former Flash IDE version of my Flex projects, everything could be replaced with Flex components except a creation task with script-based animations. I found it’s not too hard to move the code base from Flash project into new Flex application, and feel happy in the beginning. But later when my bosses asked me to change something from time to time, I got some pains the needs of strong-typed communication functions between Flex framework and that low-level UIComponent-extended Flash component, split my brain into two parts, one thinking in Flash another thinking in Flex.

Satisfaction

Most of workers working not only for money, but also for some sort of self-fulfillment, coming from satisfactions of his works. Flash IDE developers can get more or less satisfactions from Flash projects, where working with designers, whatever some sort of creatives and some sort of happiness.

Flash developers join into Flex projects will have less satisfactions. Each time when Adobe evangelist talking about how great a new Flex application is, someone will notice that ‘the best Flash applications in the industry still made with Flash IDE, not Flex’. Design challenges are limitations to make Flex to be satisfied like Flash applications, especially when designers have very limited experience working with Flex, even worse definitely no designer at all. Each time when the feeling comes, you ‘do not have the ability to make that happen which can be made with Flash easily’, can you feel it good?

Flex developers coming from Java or other languages getting satisfactions from Flex, as Flex applications he can build much beautiful than Java GUIs, HTML interfaces, and much easier. They’ve already have good experiences with enterprise design patterns, Flex is easy for them to dive into, and the results for them are amazing.

Creative Flash CS3 is sitting inside creative products list of Adobe, while Flex focus on enterprise solutions. It’s clear when you design/develop with Flash CS3, you have the most creative and freedom to do everything. A simple reason is, Flex actually a house of Flash, a framework with a big collection of Flash classes. In the meaning of creative, you can do everything with Flash CS3 what Flex 2 can do. In Flex 2 you could also change components style, use bitmap images and Flash swfs to change skins and make them much friendly and beautiful. Though you have to do these with cautions in Flex – Flex has its own structures, listeners, display layers, rules.

Development Speed Last year when Adobe announced Flex 2, it was said ‘Flex is Fast’. Yes, make a Flex application within 5 minutes, make something magic with several classes, and you could change style and skins easily. In real productive projects, it’s true for talent Java developers, while not true for Flash developers. Why? For Java developers, with Flex they don’t have to learn Flash drawing/timeline techniques, they can easily move Java code into Flex projects, and soon a nice business application, better then user interface with Java, styling and skinning, transitions and effects, and get benefits of high acceptance of Flash player, how cool and how fast it is! But for Flash developers, why not the same? Simply, it depends. Flash developers will compare Flex applications to Flash web applications that talent designers made, will think about how to make better and perfect user experiences, how to make a beautiful transition that designers hope, will think this is not perfect enough I want to change, will have a favor to work with Flash player API classes, will like to customize Flex components here and there. And how to? If lucky you find a solution by searching google and Flexcoders mail list, or you have to find dig functions/events that you couldn’t find from examples of documents or books, worse you call some mx_internal properties, or push additional listeners for something because of ‘private’ properties you have no right to change and dig their values, the worst, stop and wait somebody do that. A question is: why life is so hard in Flex? It SHOULD be several lines only to change in Flash AS3 classes but in Flex it have to go over more steps and more hours? Honestly, if not so curious the way of Flash designers/developers, Flex applications could be faster than code in Flash(still depends, customers/managers may not satisfied, you have to make those hard parts happen). Be sure to walk on the road of Flex, you can be faster than walking on wild land, and, stop before the red sign.

Performance Although Flex was optimized quite much with Adobe’s own techniques, Flex will at least use more memory, extra listeners, extra resources that might useless for current project. When I opened more than 5 tabs of Flex applications in Firefox, in some case performance became a problem. Maybe they could be changed to ‘silent’ – close listeners, clear garbages when browser window is changed to inactive. Testing Flex is a Flash framework – tested. So you can get benefits from Flex, and save testing time and testers. If you want to make components in Flash the same Flex framework doing – I tried to do some of them before – wasting time. You have no much dedicated time and testers that Adobe engineers had.

So, Flash or Flex? I think these are for Flash only projects:

• Simple, clear structure, more creative.
• Games.
• No much standard forms, controls.

More likely Flex:

• Bunch of forms, standard controls.
• Stable and functions more important than eyes candy.

How about Both? Flex of course has limitations of creative. Surely some projects need them work together, and get benefits from both side. There could be several methods to use them:

• Flash application to load Flex application on runtime, better user experience with Flash power and flexible.
• Flex application to load Flash application, some sort of.
• Flash UIMovieClip to be used inside Flex, works as a component.
• Flash CS AS3 classes extends UIComponents inside Flex, load symbols from Flash SWF file. I thought it’s hard before I tried this the first time, but find not so much.

I need another browser with the regular Flash 9 player. This time I installed Opera. I opened Opera it said Flash player was not installed. Good. I downloaded Flash 9 player for Linux package and tried to install it manually this time. But my surprise, the Flash player installer only try to install on .mozilla folder, it say ‘do you want to install another folder’, but no option for you to install to other folder, for me, I want to push them into Opera folder /usr/lib/opera. How can I do that so? (I don’t have time to change that shell installer.)

I checked opera/plugins/ folder. I guess maybe I could copy libflashplayer.so file directly over there. Ok let me try. I copy it (sudo required). Then open Opera. It works, cool!

Algorithms are mathematics involved. But it could be trade-off and not necessary for all details due to my time. Some time I will try to look on math equations but most time I will directly to code them in Actionscript 3 first and see whether I understand and comment directly.

I saw some code written in C as someone discussed it as much effective than regular ‘best practise’ C code. He said it’s because those codes got idea from Assembly actually. Of course if you code C with assembly method, you could check the machine code (read: mov, add, goto) and you know they’re effective or not. But for Flash, it’s a little bit more hard. Maybe if some day I found an algorithm if necessary to be optimized, I will try to read low level code (similar to read Assembly) with the decompiler provided by Adobe. Also have to have some experiential testing.

Current version: 0.2.0 (Beta)

Updates:

Game save/load supported. Score list available. Audio added. Message class added. Improved rules: 1. No chanllenges 2. Life points count, after 5 fails a new line of bubbles will be pushed in. (But you can get points back in some case). 3. Push double lines of bubbles. 4. No points reward so you have to finish your game.

If you find any bugs, please let me know. Thanks.

Next game suppose to be a FPS tank game in 3D. Big topic for me right now.

A part of source code available for download. It’s the method to load assets from external SWF files and use them dynamically in this game.

I began to code AS3 games so started with a popluar bubble games, squirrels are lovely and could see everywhere in Canada, so I use ‘Squirrel Bubble’ as the name of my first AS 3 game. A squirrel will transfer a bubble to fire.

Later I will add some script-based animation for another squirrel, walk around here and there, and improve the bonus part. Also it will have a top-10 score board, as well as sounds.

This alpha version I finished in 4 days, most of time coding and debugging (and a whole day for thinking and making squirrels). The debugging of Flash 9 IDE alpha is very limited, what I can do was only ‘trace’ and ‘try…catch’, costed me big hours.

Some rules:

After 80 shots there will be a health bar to indicate you have only 5 chances to failed before a line of additional bubbles will be pushed down. After 400 shots as health exhausted double lines of bubbles will be pushed down.

To play this game alone: http://www.neatfilm.net

Current version: 0.1.0

Todo list:

Add back-end module – Top-10 score board. AI module: Another squirrel will play on the back here and there dynamically and greet you sometime.

I found my ‘lab explorer’ has something weird so I checked today. Actually the new AS3 flash.text.TextField is by default mouse enabled. I turned .mouseEnabled to false then it’s ok now.

MsDewey.com design very cool with perfect neat dynamic videos. With Flash media server and high-speed servers, Microsoft could provide a large amount of Flash videos in flexible way.

Still it begin with a preloader, but display a FLV instead of normal progress bars. It’s a nice idea but if you copy the same way, not the deal whatever. And they should use cuepoints for progress points, so you wouldn’t feel bored to wait. While still, it’s funny this time, but it have to be changed if this is a long time service of Microsoft Live Search I guess.

I don’t know why each time refresh there’re something to download, possibly to load a dynamic beginning scene it will be played, or the Flash video of the beginning scene is usually too large to be load more buffer. It pretty interest each time they load a kind of different beginning scene before you can use Live Search. Also, there will be lots of dynamic Flash videos to be played while you’re searching even when you idle. The background is sticked with one image currently.

I like the design, a kind of implementaions of neat Flash ‘film’s, perfect reality. It’s a perfect sample usage of Flash videos. But it have to have big money to support media server clusters, high-speed network speed, as well as lots of video jobs.

Adobe Flash product manager Mike Downey pointed out the response of young lady should be some relatives to your search but not always. I think it’s the job of back-end but, it have to get response very quickly maybe from an existing list of words matrix like Eliza, but not based on the result of search(it need time before the lady could do anything), so it need time for Live Search to go extra miles.