Ted On Flash: RIA goes mainstream

RIA goes mainstream - Java FX welcome!

DIGG IT! 18 Comments Published Tuesday, May 08, 2007 at 3:00 PM .

Anybody spot a trend? It seems like some very big players are targeting RIA and new tools are arriving by the truckload. RIA - Rich Internet Applications are commanding respect at Microsoft and now Sun with todays announcement of Java FX at Java One. I think is very good news for RIA developers and great news for Flash based technologies.

As the current de-facto standard for building RIA online, Flash and Flex are getting respect from ever larger players in the RIA space. All these new RIA tools and platforms simply validate the 5 year direction at Adobe and Macromedia before it. Anyone remember "Experience Matters" and Broadmoor? Macromedia coined the term RIA in 2002 but a few of us in the Flash world were already hard at work making RIA at the time. I remember building list controls, quicksort, and dataproviders using loadvars and frame calls in Flash 4/5. When Flash 5 hit ActionScript took off like a rocket and it would never be the same. We saw components, events, and new patterns emerge and APIS.

Todays RIA tools are light years ahead of those early days when RIA was invented. With Flex 2.0.1 and soon Flex 3, I can build an RIA in minutes and integrate API's from various servers which is viewable by 86% of the Internet, soon 98%. With Flex and AJAX I can deploy RIA application to the desktop with Apollo delivering seamlessly with a single file to WIN/LINUX/OSX. We sure have come a long way!

It is yet another great day for RIA and for Flash Player!

Go Flash Player, Go Flex! You both are changing the face of software!

So when is Apple announcing their RIA Platform built on Quicktime?

Shame that Sun chose the "FX" moniker but then again we all know who the Original FX is!

Cheers,

Ted :)

18 Responses to “ RIA goes mainstream - Java FX welcome! ”

# dr_zeus May 8, 2007 3:54 PM

Ted, you sure seem to enjoy including MASSIVE images in your posts. That big Flex icon almost squashed me under its gigantic weight!
# Ted Patrick May 8, 2007 4:00 PM

Let me reduce the image massiveness. Ted :)
# Anonymous May 8, 2007 4:24 PM

I'm excited about flex 3. Can you tell me flex 3 will have a new panel with a min/max button built in? I think that would be hot.

Patrick
flexcoders.me.com
# Ted Patrick May 8, 2007 4:56 PM

I am excited about Flex 3 (Moxie) too. Much of Flex Builder is Eclipse, wondering if Min/Max is in Eclipse or in a Flex TitleWindow...

Regards,

Ted
# Zee May 8, 2007 7:18 PM

"Shame that Sun chose the "FX" moniker but then again we all know who the Original FX is!"
Coincidentally, .NET 3.0 was formerly marketed as "WinFX"...
# Anonymous May 8, 2007 7:35 PM

RE: Min/Max Panel Component

I should have clarified, I mean an actual component? If it was a flex component it would be a great addition. I am just getting into the open source info right now? Will adobe continue development on charts? Will they be open source too, or an additional purchase?

Thanks,
Patrick
# Anonymous May 8, 2007 8:46 PM

I think Adobe needs to explain why anyone would want their proprietary Flash code at this point - you made it delierately incompatible with GPL, and you require a while separate runtime infrastructure? You all should worry about Java, not Microsoft. They are starting from a much bigger base.
# John Dowdell May 8, 2007 9:53 PM

"I think Adobe needs to explain why anyone would want their proprietary Flash code at this point"

Oh, that's simple... it's because they do. :)

(Seriously, if you're not comfortable with the contract offered, then please don't accept it. The choice is up to you. But if you put down others because they don't share your values, then that's when things start to get sticky.)

(And if you could sign your name with a verifiable identity when critiquing others, then your words would carry more weight, thanks.)

jd/adobe
# Anonymous May 9, 2007 8:41 AM

I agree JavaFX, WPF, et al are simply validating Flash/Flex.

Yo--anonymous... I love your work.

Phillip Kerman
# Seishiro May 9, 2007 11:19 AM

I agree too, Sun is a more serious challenger and shouldn't be taken lightly. It seems that the RIA competition is getting a lot more interesting.

So anyone can think of any names for Apple's RIA? iRIA? iFX?
# Ria Flex May 10, 2007 7:02 AM

I actually wonder whether Macromedia looked at Carels.VirtualClient Studio when thinking of Flex:

http://www.flzone.com/showDetail.asp?TypeId=6&NewsId=2045

For those interested in antiques I can try to dig up the trial version.
# Samuel May 15, 2007 7:46 PM

HAHA YEA!!! Sun Bring it on!!! Btw... Ted I LIKE the big images hehe.

Cheers mate,
Sam
# Raju August 1, 2007 4:04 PM

Just some minor info on the RIA timeline:
* 1st concept of server which compiles XML files into Flash bytecode: 2001, the LZX language by Laszlo
* Release Laszlo Presentation Server 1.0 in 2002
* OpenLaszlo project started in 2004

Wasn't Flex 1.0 released early 2004? Hmmm...
# Ted Patrick August 1, 2007 4:12 PM

Raju,

Actually wrong. XML2SWF was the first XML compiler (desktop or server) to SWF bytecode in 1999.

At the time, Flex was countering SVG in version Flex 1.0 not Laszlo. I spoke with the Flex team in 2000 regarding the need for an alternate to the Flash paradigm.

Plus then we had 3 years of work building RIA in Flash 2,3,4,5.

Ted :)
# Raju August 1, 2007 4:45 PM

Well, you know I said:
"First SERVER to compile...", I know there were other compilers using the idea to compile XML into bytecode.

Why do some people have such a hard time admitting how much good the (at that time) small Laszlo team did for the evolution of RIA? Adobe/Macromedia always makes it sound like: without us the Internet would be so poor! Well, I don't think you really believe that yourself!

Look at the Laszlo Dashboard (first programmed with LZX in late 2002), and then compare that to the Broadmoor application.
http://tinyurl.com/6k7tb

The Laszlo Dashboard had draggable windows, a chat window, MP3 player and video player, every component skinned. I saw the Flash apps around at that time, and I wasn't impressed so much. The Laszlo Dashboard looked A LOT MORE impressive to me. And yes, it utilized the Flash plug-in.

Until I saw the Laszlo Dashboard my first reaction to Flash in the Internet was to click the "skip intro" button...
# Ted Patrick August 1, 2007 4:54 PM

Raju,

Do you work for Laszlo? I have worked with over 100+ companies that have moved away from it to Flex 2 soon Flex 3.

The history is unimportant and plus Laszlo had its day in the sun.

Cheers,

ted :)
# Raju August 2, 2007 5:11 AM

This post has been removed by the author.
# Raju August 2, 2007 5:18 AM

Yes, Flex rules! ;) Live a happy dream in your dream world....

Meanwhile the rest of the world looks at iPhone, Nokia S60Webkit, Opera mobile browsers, Linux embedded systems running JavaScript engines, mobile Ajax applications, JavaME apps...

I'd call that a "Flex-free-zone"...

I've been using OpenLazlo successfully since October 2004 in a number of projects. And I've met enough companies moving away from the Macromedia/Adobe, so I know it works in both directions.

The price tag your company puts on Flex solutions (I'm not talking about the compiler here!) helps a lot. :)

Yes, I work for Laszlo since 2007, and it's good feeling. We still enjoy the sun.