Flex is a very powerful and versatile technology for creating web application front-ends. But what every good web application needs is a robust data source, be it XML, or a database. Flex is very adaptable in terms of connecting to data sources, and that is the main focus of this book. In Foundation Flex for Developers, Sas and Koen assume that you've got the basics of Flex down already, and explores in detail how to create professional data-centric Flex 2 and Flex 3 applications. In the first half of the book, she starts off with a brief exploration of Flex and ActionScript 3.0, before looking at application essentials in detail—creating custom components, user and web browser interactions, binding, formatting, and validating data, debugging, and more. In the second half of the book, the focus is on connecting Flex to data sources, and covers XML, LiveCycle Data Services, PHP, ASP.NET, and ColdFusion in detail, via a series of step-by-step case studies.
Covers Flex application basics
Covers connecting Flex 2 and Flex 3 to a variety of Data Sources
Includes several complete case studies.
What youll learn
How to create custom components
How to handle user and web browser interactions
How to debug Flex 2 applications
How to bind, format, and validate data
How to load and write external content
The essentials of XML, and working with it in Flex 2, including E4X
The essentials of Flex Data Services
How to build up data-driven Flex 2 applications with PHP, ASP.NET, and ColdFusion backends
