Adobe has released the final versions of Adobe Flash Builder 4, and the latest Flex 4 SDK.
One of the biggest noticable changes this time around would have to be its name, which has changed from Flex Builder in versions 3 and below to Flash Builder. This more firmly roots it as a part of the Flash platform.
The Flex SDK has a quite open development process and as such there are few surprises when it comes to features; everything has been in the open for quite a while. The SDK has been through its twists and turn, with the community guiding it through them, and is already on its way to Flex 4.1
The latest Flex SDK brings a complete change in the architecture of the SDK which aims to make applications much more flexible. The new component architecture called “spark” allows for more yet easier skinning, and has greater support for Flash Player 10 features, which released after the Flex 3 SDK, such as 3D support which was added in Flash 10. Flex 4’s new flexible architecture combined with the new 3D support means that it is now much simpler to create
3D layouts.
Flex 4 has not only seen an improvement in the component libraries, but the language syntax itself has evolved with MXML2009. The new states syntax skinning and styling with FXG and better CSS selector support all mean more powerful and expressive applications.
Flex Builder 4 has also seen impressive changes, with some of the most impressive ones having to do with data centric development with the new data-wizards which make it easy to connect your application to web services and other remote data sources. Remote data can be bound to local components, allowing you to see a live preview of data.
Flash Builder 4 will share a workflow with Flash CS5 (yet to be released) allowing it to act as the default code editor and to import assets created in Flash with ease.
Developer productivity has been an important theme for this release, and to Flash Builder adds tons of new features other than the data wizards for the same. Features such as code refactoring, ASDoc comments support while editing code, and more powerful profiling debugging and monitoring tools.
You can download a trial version of Flash Builder 4 from the
Adobe website right now. Or you can download the free (and open source)
Flex 4 SDK.