Learning Flex 3--New from O’Reilly: Getting up to Speed with Rich Internet Applications

Sebastopol, CA—How fast can you learn Adobe Flex 3? O’Reilly Media’s newest book on Flex--Learning Flex 3 ($39.99)--offers an engagingly unique, hands-on approach that allows you to tinker with examples right away and create your own Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) with Flex within the first few chapters. As you progress, you’ll build an advanced layout, add interactivity, work with data, and deploy your applications to either the Web or the desktop.

And with this new release of Flex, time is of the essence. According to author Alaric Cole, Flex is here to stay for the long run, and it’s catching on quickly.

“With the release of Flex and Flex Builder 3, the language and de facto programming environment has matured to the point that they are suitable for both beginners and experienced developers. With the open-source initiative for Flex, I see widespread adoption taking place,” says Cole, a Flex developer from the beginning.

Not only is Flex catching on quickly with developers, but Cole believes it may become the norm across the board. As he says, “Rich Internet Applications are popping up all over the place, and may be the standard for software in the very near future. Flex is a great choice for building rich Internet applications, so it will continue to grow with the web.”

Learning Flex 3 provides clear, step-by-step instructions, along with tips and tricks that Cole has gathered from years of using Flex and teaching it to fellow developers. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer coming to Flex from another platform, this book will help you get on your feet quickly.

You will learn how to:

Set up Flex Builder/Eclipse
Lay out a Flex application
Build an engaging user interface
Add interactivity with ActionScript
Handle user input with rich forms
Gather and format data
Create reusable components with MXML
Add effects, filters, and transitions
Style applications with CSS, skins, and themes
Deploy applications to the Web, or to the desktop using Adobe AIR

You’ll also find easy-to-understand explanations of object-oriented programming concepts and best practices. Learning Flex 3 is not only the most complete tutorial for Flex 3, it’s also the quickest way to get going with the latest version of this powerful framework.

For a review copy or more information please email maryr@oreilly.com. Please include your delivery address and contact information.


Alaric Cole has been using Flex since its introduction three years ago. He uses it in his daily work at Yahoo!, providing training and consultation for the company. He also has a close relationship to Adobe and has met with the Flex team to champion new features and report issues.