Translating Geek Into English

For those of you that read this blog regularly (-ish), my apologies for the lack of posts last week. I’m continuing to work my way through my new book, “Effortless Flex 4 Development,” and it’s taking up all of my time. But I’m over two-thirds of the way through the book now, having just completed the second section. That’s the heart of the book, focusing on data and communications. The last third of the book will be written over the next couple of weeks. It covers “finishing touches” types of concepts, such as styling applications, effects, using popup windows, and so forth. These will be shorter chapters and involve information that you wouldn’t necessarily use on every project.

I believe the book will be published in July. The list price is about $45 (US), but you can normally get books for much cheaper than that. Amazon currently has it at $33.44. You can also read the book as I’m writing it via Safari Books Online.

My forthcoming book, Effortless Flex 4 Development, is now available to be read online through Safari Books Online. The direct URL is http://my.safaribooksonline.com/9780131389465. Through that site you’ll be able to read the book as I write it and make comments on the work. Frequently those comments can be used to fix or improve the finished version of the book. Note that Safari Books Online is a paid service but there is a free 10 day/100 page trial.

The latest version of Flex 4 was released by Adobe today. Adobe also released today the latest version of Flex Builder, now called Flash Builder 4. In case you’re not familiar with these products, Flex 4 is an open-source framework for generating Flash content that can run in a Web browser through a Flash plug-in, in a standalone Flash Player, or on the desktop using Adobe AIR. Using the Flex 4 SDK, any text editor, and a command-line interface, you can create Flash content for no cost. This is Flash content developed from a programming perspective, by the way, not graphically, like the original Flash.

Flash Builder is a commercial IDE, based upon the popular Eclipse IDE, that greatly facilitates Flex development. It is available in a 60-day trial and is clearly the best way to learn Flex, in my opinion. But I acknowledge the Flash Builder isn’t cheap. Still, a 60-day trial is more than generous enough to see for yourself if you’re interested in learning Flex.

I’m currently half-way through my book on Flex 4. It’ll probably come out in July; price to be determined. I believe an excerpt of it will be posted on the publisher’s Web site this week (I will post that link once I have it), and the entire book will be readable through Peachpit Press’ Safari Books Online. I’ll post more details about this when I have them.

It’s been about a month since I’ve posted about my next book, titled “Effortless Flex 4 Development”, so I thought I’d offer up a quick update. The book is being written for New Riders press, and should come out in June (hopefully). I don’t have an exact date, or a price, but will post that information once I do.

I’m just about halfway through the first draft. I’m currently in the middle of the second part of the book, which focuses on using data in Flex. My approach in the book is that data is critical to the value of Rich Internet Applications (RIAs), so I’m really focusing on the many ways you can create, retrieve, transmit, format, validate, and display data. The next two chapters on the docket will show how to perform client-server interactions, then demonstrate a handful of the most popular and/or best Web services available. I’m still finalizing that list, but Amazon, Google, Yahoo!, Flickr, Twitter, etc. are likely candidates.

My thanks to those of you that have expressed interest in the book and please keep those comments and questions coming. In the meantime, I’ll be writing more of the book!