The last few weeks have been rough. Serious client projects, exploring unexplored territory in the Flex/FMS and Flex/Java realms, way to many hours in front of computers that seem to get slower with every key I type. The weather sucks in Chicago and simply refuses to become spring.

But a shipment from Peachpit on Wednesday helped bring me out of my manic death spiral. The Flex 3 Training from the Source Books arrived. Less than a month after the release of Flex 3, the new book (another collaboration between Tapper, Boles, Talbot and I on the authoring side. Berling and Thomas on the editing) managed to make its way to the shelves.

We started working on this book at the last FlexManiacs (now WebManiacs) conference, so almost a year ago. Books take an impossibly long time to do well, and I am hoping this one works for those that choose to buy it. There are new lessons on modularizing Flex apps, AIR basics and using the profiler as well as countless small reworks and additions throughout the remaining lessons.

Right now Tapper and I are actually working diligently on our AIR book and trying to stay in front of an 'aggressive' schedule for completion. The timing is actually really good as I leave for 360 Flex Milan in a week and this will give me plenty to do on the plane.

So, for those of you who are in, or might make it to Europe, I look forward to seeing you soon. I plan on lugging a handful of these books over the Atlantic to give away to those who ask. For those of you on the fence about going to 360 Flex, just register already. They just announced that day one is actually free for everyone, now you have no excuse. It is going to be another great Flex conference and I am anxious to see it play out.

Labriola

360 Flex Milan is in one month. For all of you considering whether or not to attend, register right now! The Atlanta version of this conference just completed last week and was absolutely wonderful. The sessions were fantastic, the sense of community was very strong and we all learned something from each other. Flex and AIR are very important technologies to the evolving world of RIAs. Don't miss the opportunity to learn so much from both the speakers and your fellow attendees. Also the first five people that find me in Milan (and remember to ask) will get copies of our upcoming Flex 3 and AIR books:

• Adobe Flex 3: Training from the Source
• Breaking Out of the Web Browser with Adobe AIR

Now, despite the fact that the conference will be in English and that written Italian has never been my best skill....

--

360 Flex Milano tra un mese.

Per tutti quelli che intendono partecipare all'evento, registratevi ora! La conferenza di Atlanta si è conclusa settimana scorsa ed è stata assolutamente favolosa!. I sessioni sono stati fantastici, con forte coinvolgimento di tutti i partecipanti, ognuno di noi ha avuto modo di apprendere qualcosa di nuovo dagli altri.

Flex e Air sono tecnologie molto importanti per l'evoluzione del mondo di RIA. Non perdete l'opportunità di imparare molto dai relatori e i partecipanti.

Anche le prime cinque persone che si ricordi di chiedere saranno consegnate le copie dei mie nuovo libri di Flex 3 e AIR.

• Adobe Flex 3: Training from the Source
• Breaking Out of the Web Browser with Adobe AIR

Labriola

Okay, so Atlanta wasn't actually all that warm this week, but I still had a great time at 360 Flex Atlanta. Tapper and I did a grueling all day Flex 101 session on Sunday. It was, in Jeff's word's, 'brutal' as the class material provided was really designed for about 20 individuals, and we had 72. Nonetheless, I think everyone walked away with some new knowledge and hopefully a few ideas on how flex could be used in future projects.

I also hung out and helped a little in Dan Wilson's 'Creating an XML Reader Application in Flex' which went off very well despite a few Internet access problems at the hotel. These two sessions collectively provided a great base for those trying to learn Flex and a really incredible amount of hands on experience for a conference this size.

Next, I spoke briefly about dpUInt and our upcoming beta of the flex-hibernate adapter at a great break out session on open source projects in the Flex community. I encourage everyone to learn about these awesome projects that only exist because of a huge number of volunteer hours from a lot of talented people.

• dpUInt
• Degrafa
• OpenFlux
• Flex Lib
• the MDI windowing project
• Merapi
• Yahoo! Flex Apis

Finally, I gave an hour and twenty minute long presentation on the first few hundred milliseconds of your Flex Application startup. It was a great, geeky session with gems of knowledge held in vast detail on the effort undertaken by the Flex framework on your behalf. It had a particular focus on living in harmony with the framework rather than fighting it on every step.

It was a hell of a lot of fun, so feel free to look at the slides and, of course, attend 360 Flex Milan.

Labriola

A year or so back, I wrote a component for Jeff Tapper called the QuadDividedBox. It works as if an HDividedBox and VDividedBox had a baby.

For the most part, it is just an intense modification of the DividedBox code, but you get four quadrants and can rescale the view area to give each a specific amount of screen real estate. It support liveDragging, respects things like the minHeight and minWidth of each child, supports maximizing a quadrant and even allows skinning of the drag icon.

Jeff didn't end up needing it for his project and since we are all hanging out under the same metaphoric roof these days, I thought I would post it online for anyone interested to use.

The compiled version has viewSource enabled, so just click on the image and get what you need.

Enjoy, Labriola

Next Sunday, Jeff Tapper and I are going to be handling the Flex 101 at 360 Flex Atlanta. While we have worked together for quite some time, it will be the first time Jeff and I actually teach together. We have drastically different styles but immense respect for each other's knowledge, so this should be a hell of a lot of fun. So come join us and we'll pick up lunch.

Then on Tuesday, I get to present 'Dense and Hot' my hour-long introduction to the first milliseconds of your Flex Application. This is the first time I am doing this presentation and it should be pure geeky goodness.

Most sessions I do are aimed at the purely practical. That's because most of my knowledge comes from reverse engineering so I take a very harsh, survival approach to knowledge. (Figure out what you need to know and remember how to find what you can't carry with you)

However, this session is just for fun. It's a ton of really cool information, and while it has practical implications, the session itself is about knowledge for geeky knowledge's sake. So come listen to, participate with, make fun of, or simply grab a beer with, me at 360 Flex Atlanta. (And if you can't make this one, we can always meet up at 360 Flex Milan)

Labriola

On Wednesday the 23rd, I filled in remotely for Kevin Hoyt during Flex Camp Omaha. While I wasn't able to meet any of you in person, I hope the remote presentation at least conveyed some of the excitement I feel about BlazeDS.

You can find the slides attached to this post or download them here.

Labriola

Flex Camp Chicago

On Friday the 18th, I had the honor of presenting to a great group of folks at Flex Camp Chicago about component creation in the Flex world. There were some great questions both in session and afterwards and we managed to cover a lot of ground.

For those interested, the slides from that presentation are available here. It was great meeting all of you and I look forward to seeing you at future camps and presentations,

Labriola

Today InsideRIA, a new community effort by the good folks at O'Reilly and Adobe, began its ascension to a pillar of the RIA community.

It intends to bring together blogs, articles and media from those of us working around the globe in RIA technologies. Given the talented individuals already onboard, it looks like a winner.

I am excited to see how its future unfolds.

Congratulations to all of those involved,

Labriola

First, Flex Camp Chicago is coming up on January 18th. There are a handful of seats left so if you want to come learn some flex, eat food and geek out with us then sign up fast.

Second, Adobe Evangelists will be crisscrossing the world showing off new features and demos while giving away schwag and raffling off Flex Builder 3 and CS3 versions. If you are using Flex now or plan to in the near future, don't miss these events.

Find out when they are coming to your city and plan on seeing us at the Chicago tour stop on February 5th.

Labriola

On January 18th, Mike Nimer, Jeff Tapper, Josh Berling, Shashank Tiwari and I will be presenting at Flex Camp Chicago. After a morning keynote from Bob Tierney, we will begin a full day of flex sessions.

You can read more at http://www.flexcampchicago.com/, but don't wait too long to register. We only have room for about 100 attendees and the spots are going very quickly.

Labriola