September 2007 Archive

Should Flex stick to AIR?

Recently I’ve been spending a chunk of time looking more into the RIA space and what oppourtunities there might be to bring some apps up-to-date, and there’s one thing I have noticed which kind of bugs me a little…

The thing is to do with the startup times of a typical flex application. Note that I am talking about apps here, not widgets etc, just anything with some sort of substantial size to it.  For me, the startup time kinda kills the flow of the site that you are on (assuming you are on a site of course), forcing you to have to sit and wait while something happens.  Now this isn’t normally a problem with AJAX or similar due to it’s progressive loading, but Flex appears to need to load itself in completely before it can start doing anything.

Now, if we look at this as part of AIR, Flex makes perfect sense.  It means I can use web skills to produce a desktop app, that looks and works like a desktop app might, and because you start the app locally, the startup lag is kind of expected somewhat.

So, is Flex just better in an AIR context, or am I just being a little picky (I have high standards you know)…

Posted by Neil Middleton on 14 Sep 2007

The Ultimate Coldfusion Tools List

I am looking to create a list of all the tools* that we, Coldfusion developers, find indispensable in our day to day lives for whatever tasks we need to do.

I am aiming to create a list of tools, that we can all read, and find additional tools that we did not originally know about. I will try to group these tools into some sort of order, and also try to specify links and an idea as to OS compatability etc.

However, to kick start it, I would like some suggestions. So, what tools do you find indispensable in your day to day working lives?

• can include code based tools such as frameworks etc.

The Ultimate Coldfusion Tools List

Posted by Neil Middleton on 27 Sep 2007

Getting the list underway...

Well, the Ultimate Coldfusion Tools List is now underway.  I’ve got a few entries on there already and I’ve been spending a little time bulking it out.  So, why am I blogging about it?  Well, I see this as a very collaborative list, I’d like to know what you all use, and I could also do with some help describing the tools.

So please, take a look, and, as always, all contributions gratefully received.

Posted by Neil Middleton on 27 Sep 2007