I hear conflicting comments about Flex being 'free'. What is the straight story on Flex? Is it proprietary?
A:
Well, there is the standard Free as in Beer vs Free as in Speech issue. Flex is Free as in speech (since it is under the MPL), and is Free as in Beer.
Use FlashDevelop for a free IDE. http://www.flashdevelop.org/wikidocs/index.php?title=Features:Interface
torial
2008-09-25 17:12:26
Does Adobe offer a free IDE similar to the Express versions of Visual Studio? I looked around on the Adobe site and couldn't find anything, and googled as well. Or is it just the API that is available?
Jason Jackson
2008-09-25 17:15:43
Not via Adobe, but FlashDevelop is a decent / free in both senses IDE.
torial
2008-09-25 17:20:00
A:
I guess one good alternative that is totally free is http://www.openlaszlo.org/ I have played with it in the past and the support is very good too.
I have not used flex because I didn't know it was free. Then again it was a few years since I looked at the area.
Paul Whelan
2008-09-25 17:14:00
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I want to develop a Laszlo app, I have to have Java on my webserver, and access to install new WebServers.One of flex's advantages is it relies on the flashplayer in the browser. Create a .swf file, put up an html page, and it works...
Mikezx6r
2008-09-25 17:20:44
Laszlo applications can be compiled from LZX into a binary SWF file, and loaded statically into an existing web page. This method is known as SOLO deployment. Applications deployed in this manner lack some functionality of servlet-contained files, i.e ability to consume SOAP web services and XML RPC
Paul Whelan
2008-09-25 18:13:19
A:
The Flex SDK is free. This allows you to compile and debug your Flex app from the command-line.
If you want something more advanced for development, Adobe sells an Eclipse plug-in or Flexbuilder (a custom version of Eclipse), but like most developer tools, and stuff from Adobe, it's pricey.
Oops:Turns out portions of Flex are open source, and available from Adobe.
Mikezx6r
2008-09-25 17:16:35
Agreed, MS is expensive, but I compare FlexBuilder to something like MyEclipse. Adobe wants $249 for a basic version, whereas MyEclipse is $35. Both are effectively Eclipse add-ons/extensions, and MyEclipse does a whole lot more.
Mikezx6r
2008-09-25 17:29:00
+2
A:
Flex is a framework based on Actionscript 3.0 and flash platform and you can download the sdk for free here: http://www.adobe.com/products/flex/flexdownloads/#sdk
The issue of cost comes into play if you want to use Flex Builder, which is an IDE for flex development. You can get a free trial of Flex Builder 3.0 for 60 days i believe.
PS Flex is open source... http://opensource.adobe.com/wiki/display/flexsdk/Flex+SDK
JustFoo
2008-09-25 17:16:50
+3
A:
FlexBuilder costs $249 for the standard version, which you can download for free for 60 days. The professional version is $699.
Flex itself is free. You could do all of your Flex development in your favorite text editor, without the visual layout and interactive debugging tools that FlexBuilder gives you, and run mxmlc from a build script to compile your code.
Alan Hensel
2008-09-25 17:33:40
+16
A:
The Flex SDK is free and open source.
http://opensource.adobe.com/wiki/display/flexsdk/Flex+SDK
It includes command line tools for compiling Flex and ActionScript based applications.
Adobe sells an Eclipse based IDE named Flex Builder, although this is not required for Flex development.
mike chambers
mikechambers
2008-09-25 22:24:42
Brian
2009-07-13 21:36:57