AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Flex for the Enterprise

Mark PillerMidnight Coders, LLC

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Flex Architecture

Flash Player(Flash Virtual

Machine)

Flash Player(Flash Virtual

Machine)

Flex Builder 2(based on Eclipse)Flex Builder 2

(based on Eclipse)

WYSIWYG Editor

Code Editor

Debugger

Skinning and Styling

Flex Charting ComponentsFlex Charting Components

Flex Data ServicesFlex Data Services

Remoting

Data Management

Messaging

User ApplicationsUser Applications

.NET.NET JavaJavaRuby

on Rails

Ruby on

RailsPHPPHP

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Flex Remoting

• Web Services

• HTTP Services

• Remote Objects

Flex Client

Web Service

HTTP Service

Remote Object(Java, .NET, Ruby, PHP)

Flex Server

(FDS orWebORB)

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Demo

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Data Management

• Data synchronization

• Conflict resolution

• Disconnected mode support

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Demo

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Messaging

• Interactivity

• Immediate notification

• Low stress on the server

• Support for pub/sub

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Demo

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Messaging Code

• Declare <producer> and <consumer>:

• Publish message with producer:

• Receive message with consumer:

<mx:Producer id="producer" destination="chat"/><mx:Consumer id="consumer" destination="chat" message=“msgHandler(event)"/>

var message:AsyncMessage = new AsyncMessage();message.body = { messageText: “hello world” };producer.send( message );

public function msgHandler(event:MessageEvent):void {var messageText:Object = event.message.body.messageText;

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Flex Advantages

• Rich development environment

• Single runtime environment

• Optimized client/server integration

• Disconnected mode support

• Data management infrastructure

• Built-in support for real-time messaging

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Enterprise Software Requirements

• Reliability

• Scalability

• Low total cost of ownership (TCO)

• User Experience

• Feature expansion

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Flex Remoting – Enterprise Gradesheet

• Reliability - (as reliable as WS)• Scalability - (as scalable as WS infrastructure)• TCO - low to average• User Experience – average• Feature expansion - limited

Web Service

Flex Client Flex Client Flex Client

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Flex Remoting – Enterprise Gradesheet (cont.)

• Reliability - (as reliable as HTTP service)• Scalability - (as scalable as HTTP service infrastructure)• TCO - low to average• User Experience – average• Feature expansion - limited

HTTPService

Flex Client Flex Client Flex Client

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Flex Remoting – Enterprise Gradesheet (cont.)

• Reliability - high• Scalability - high• TCO - low to average• User Experience – average• Feature expansion - excellent

RemoteObject

Flex Client Flex Client Flex Client

Flex Server(FDS or WebORB)

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Flex Data Management – Enterprise Gradesheet

• Reliability - high• Scalability - high• TCO - varies• User Experience – above average• Feature expansion - excellent

Flex Client Flex Client Flex Client

Flex Server(FDS or WebORB)

Data Source

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Flex Messaging – Enterprise Gradesheet

• Reliability - high• Scalability - high• TCO - varies• User Experience – superb• Feature expansion - excellent

Flex Server(FDS or WebORB)

Flex Server(FDS or WebORB)

Flex Client

Message Bus

JMS or MSMQ

Flex Client

AJAXWorld Conference, October 3, 2006

Any questions?