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I've desperately been trying to make mobile applications for iOS and Android but Objective-C and Java are way to hard for me to learn. I do make apps for Windows in Visual Basic.NET but now with the release of Adobe Flash Builder 4.5 I am tempted to make iOS apps once again.

What I wanted to know was which one is easier to learn Flex or ActionScript and where is the best place to get started. I have Flash Builder 4.5 but with all these project options not much makes sense at the moment. So to sum it all up:

  • Flex or ActionScript?
  • How easy are they?
  • Where can I get started?
  • Which one is the easiest to create a GUI with? Like in .NET it's drag and drop.

Thanks!

Ammaar
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    If you can't do Objective-C or Java, why do you think you can do Flex or Actionscript any easier? You can learn anything, but the "it's too hard" attitude won't get you far in *any* programming languages... – J_A_X Jul 06 '11 at 15:45

2 Answers2

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To answer your specific questions

Flex or ActionScript?

Flex is an ActionScript framework. It's really not an either or proposition. If you want to make use of it's UI Controls for your application, go with Flex. Flex also includes MXML which is declarative language and may be easier to digest if you don't know/understand ActionScript.

How easy are they?

It depends on hat you already know. I expect if you're having trouble with Objective C then ActionScript is going to present similar problems. I once heard an Adobe employee say they want to make Flex as approachable as VB. The success they've had in that could be debatable.

Where can I get started?

My blog post on resources to learn Flex.

To quote a relevant passage:

There are a lot of places to go to learn about Flex development. Most people, including me, start with the Adobe documentation and plug through that. Then we look for resources to fill the gaps left by the Adobe Documentation.

Tons of books exists. The O'Rielly seem to be popular, as are the Training from the Source books. You can take a look at Adobe's Flex in a Week sessions. I believe Lynda.com and TotalTraining also have courses available.

My primary podcast, The Flex Show, provides a bunch of free screencasts on various topics. I also produce the Flextras Friday Lunch which is more free form but covers a wider range of topics.

Here is a StackOverflow post on the topic. Here is another. And another. The Adobe documentation is going to have the most up to date stuff on mobile development.

Which one is the easiest to create a GUI with? Like in .NET it's drag and drop.

You can use Drag and Drop w/ the Flash Builder Design view. I believe that Flash Catalyst also has some drag and drop functionality. That will only get you so far, though. Eventually you're going to need to write some code.

Community
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JeffryHouser
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    +1. very good summary. "I once heard an Adobe employee say they want to make Flex as approachable as VB" - Can't say I'm a fan. I've been vocal about this for a while and I'm trying to change that mentality. Wizard will not help us code faster. Plus, coders never use wizards :P – J_A_X Jul 06 '11 at 16:08
  • I think the syntax and IDE (FB4.5) make AS3/Flex a lot more approachable than Objective C, granted, its been awhile since I've sat down and done any ObjC. – Jonathan Rowny Jul 06 '11 at 17:14
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I personally prefer ActionScript over Flex due to many benefits ActionScript has for me, below are a few:

Achieve greater performance ActionScript 3 was written from the ground up with performance in mind. Depending on the content, you can see a significant increase in performance. This means that your existing content may run smoother, and your new content can do more, while using the same amount of CPU resources.

Leverage new Flash Player APIs Adobe Flash Player 9 and 10 includes a ton of new features which can only be used through ActionScript 3. These include much easier XML APIs via E4X, more advanced display list manipulation, or doing advanced image manipulation with Pixel Bender filters. As a general rule, new ActionScript-based features added in the future will only be available via ActionScript 3.

Leverage community libraries and APIs Almost all of the major new libraries released by the community are built with ActionScript 3, and include everything from the Papervision3D full 3D engine library to Grant Skinner’s Gtween animation library.

Troubleshoot code more easily The ActionScript 3 compiler provides options for much stricter error checking, which means it is more likely you are going to find bugs and errors before you even begin to run your content. When you do find errors, you can take advantage of some of the new and more advanced debugging features to track them down (and of course, you can still use trace()).

Develop content for multiple platforms ActionScript 3 is the standard language used across the Adobe Flash Platform. Moving forward, it is the language that Adobe will focus on supporting in existing and new players (like Adobe AIR), servers, and products. Flash Player 10 supports ActionScript 3, and its use is required for developing for Adobe Flex and Adobe AIR content. In addition, Adobe is working on updating its mobile runtimes to ActionScript 3. In the future, you can expect that new Flash Platform products, runtimes, and services from Adobe will use ActionScript 3.

Bulvak
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    Your argument makes no sense. Flex *is* Actionscript. The only difference is that it provides a set of tools to create UI components/layouts faster and easier, while providing better development automation and coding environment. You can use the same 'features' of the latest Flash Player in Flex (so long as you specify a minimum player version). Everything you've said applies for Flex. The only thing I will say is that straight Actionscript is 'faster' (but that's relative) because it doesn't have component lifecycles which has greatly improved in Flex 4. You should inform yourself more. – J_A_X Jul 06 '11 at 15:51