Flex Template
Adobe Flex and Its Implications
By Huzefa Johar
Flash was the first authoring tool of its kind that had the ability to integrate design and coding. This unique combination of the two factors was highly appreciated by new developers. However, hardcore developers who had spent all their lives writing C++ or Java code felt intimidated by the Flash interface. Concepts such as timeline and library were new to them and they simply couldn't get used to it.
In 2004, Macromedia (now Adobe) launched the initial version of Flex, thereby providing conventional hardcore developers with an opportunity to create Flash applications, without having to meddle around with timeline or dialog boxes. Java and C++ developers felt at home in the Flex interface because it bore significant resemblance to EMACS and BBEdit.
The popularity of Adobe Flex is on the rise and increasing number of developers are switching over to it. Picnic, slideshare, and Scribd are the names of some popular internet applications which have been designed in Flex. Although Flex has been successfully implemented for development of some powerful web services, it can also be put to a more generic use. For instance, it can be used for development of a business management application which is deployable through corporate intranet. Such applications often feature dashboards that facilitate data visualization and the good news is that both Adobe Flex Builder and Flex SDK - the IDE for Flex programming, have a built in charting component that takes care of basic data visualization needs.
The Adobe Flex charting component can be conveniently deployed for plotting basic charts. However, if you are looking for greater customizability, more features and advanced chart types then you might have to resort to a third party charting component. I find the absence of gauges in Adobe Flex Charting to be rather appalling, since gauges are an essential part of modern dashboards.
The virtues of Flex should not be undermined by limitations of Adobe Flex Charting component, because these limitations can easily be overcome with the help of a third party charting component. I feel that Flex has great potential and it will soon become an established framework for building rich internet applications.
FusionCharts for Flex is a feature rich data visualization suite for Adobe Flex. It features both charts and real-time guages, to know more about FusionCharts for Flex visit http://www.fusioncharts.com/flex/Default.asp
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