IFBIN - The 'Hello World' Case Study
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Comments
Published
Thursday, July 21, 2005
at
9:30 AM
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While developing IFBIN - Flash by Example, authors provided a 'Hello World' example as a showcase of their perspective on the age old example. In every case, I learned something new from these examples.&
There are literally thousands of ways to solve a particular problem. None of them are right or wrong, they are all just different. The 'Hello World' case study really changed my perspective on the product we were developing. When you ask 20 or so top quality developers for 'Hello World' examples you get some strange emails in return. I know many on the team thought I was crazy but I wanted to see a common problem solved from independent perspectives. The end result continues to amaze me.
The real difference for me came when I was reviewing the examples for approval. I was really shocked to see such varied perspectives on Flash and to find so many different valid techniques for authoring SWF content. It was as if I was allowed to peer over the shoulder of another developer and see how they work. In every case I walked away looking at Flash differently and adding another tool into my solution set. I thought we were making something great, but this altered perspective really drove the value home.
Then Jon Williams posted his 'Hello World' example. Here is the SWF file:
I have yet to see anything so cool as this example. The math and drawing API driven ToolTip class is simply amazing. The code for this is about 3 pages of rock solid hard core AS. Is it any wonder Jon created one of the first frameworks for Flash development, IOLib? I expected allot of things but having this arrive was a real wake-up call as to the core value of the Flash by Example product. Jon, thanks for this fantastic example!
I just enabled the Hello World examples as free content in IFBIN - Flash by Example. Download the IFBIN Service and install these examples for free. Make sure to set aside some time to review these examples, you will be surprised just how much Flash you will learn in a short period of time. I thought I knew allot about Flash but it seems that I still have allot to learn.
Regards,
Ted Patrick
Nice, IFBIN looks like it will be very handy to alot of developers.
Just curious, but how are the various authors chosen? Will you be adding more over time? And how does one become and author, if possible?
Thanks!
Authors are full partners and own 50% of the products they contribute into. Becoming an author is becoming an owner in a product. We recently formed a "Flash By Example" Executive Committee to handle business, content, and author related issues. The committee will be formalizing the application process for new authors in August. Our one and only concern is maintaining a very high level of developer quality. There will be information posted on this within the "Flash by Example" and "Flex by Example" product UIs.
Regards Ryan!
Ted ;)