Author Archives: James Ward

Watch AS34J – ActionScript 3 for Java Developers

By James Ward | Published: May 17, 2010
Last week I did an eSeminar on AS34J – ActionScript 3 for Java Developers. This was originally a presentation that Chet Haase and I did at Devoxx. Later Chet also published the presentation as a two part article on JavaWorld (Part 1 and Part 2). Check out the eSeminar and let me know what you [...]
Posted in Flex, Java | 1 Comment

Flex and Java Differences: Getters & Setters

By James Ward | Published: May 7, 2010
In Java it has become a standard practice to use a getter & setter notation to provide a consistent interface to an object’s properties. There is a reason why we don’t do the following in Java: public String fullName; The code above essentially creates an interface (or contract) between the class and the implementors of [...]
Posted in ActionScript, Flex, Java | 5 Comments

Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise Podcast

By James Ward | Published: April 27, 2010
While I was at the Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise conference in Philly I was able to participate in a very fun podcast. The casual chat was hosted by Ken Rimple of Chariot Solutions. Participating in the podcast were Adam Coomes of Infegy, Ed Burns of Oracle, Cote of Redmonk, and myself. Topics ranged from [...]
Posted in Conferences | Leave a comment

Flex at the Austin JUG and Stir Trek in Columbus

By James Ward | Published: April 26, 2010
Tomorrow night I’ll be in Austin, Texas speaking at the Java User Group about Better Software with Java and Flex (Try the Google Cache Page in case the site is not working). And then next week I’ll be at Stir Trek in Columbus, Ohio presenting about Flex and the Cloud. I hope to see some [...]
Posted in Cloud, Flex, Java | Leave a comment

Flex 3 SDK in Flash Builder 4

By James Ward | Published: April 20, 2010
The Flex 4 SDK has some great new features but for existing Flex 3 apps upgrading might not yet be an option. Luckily Adobe’s professional tooling for Flex, now called Flash Builder 4, is abstracted from the underlying SDK. This means that you can take advantage of many of the new Flash Builder 4 features [...]
Posted in Flex | Leave a comment

Drunk on Software #23 “I’d give it a 4.5 out of 10″

By James Ward | Published: April 12, 2010
In Episode 23 we chat with Adam Flater and Rob Rusher about some very controversial topics. Adam points out James’ wishful thinking when we discuss what defines something being a “Flex application”. Jon gets the award for best quote of the episode when we discuss Flex and its community. Things get fun as we discuss [...]
Posted in Flex, Silverlight | 1 Comment

Video: Build your First Desktop Application with Flash Builder

By James Ward | Published: April 1, 2010
In this video I walk through the basics of building Adobe AIR desktop applications in Flash Builder 4 using the Flex 4 SDK. Let me know what you think.
Posted in Adobe AIR, Flex | 17 Comments

Upcoming Flex Presos: Cincinnati, Philly, Houston, and Dallas

By James Ward | Published: March 23, 2010
Here are some upcoming presentations I’ll be doing about Flex: Cincinnati March 24 – cincyFlex – What’s new in the world of Flex? Cincinnati March 25 – CinJUG – Flex in the Cloud Philly April 8 – Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise – Building Client/Server 2.0 Apps with Flex Houston April 13 – Houston Adobe [...]
Posted in Flex | 4 Comments

Flex Paint Updated To Flex 4

By James Ward | Published: March 22, 2010
One of my most viewed blogs is one of the most simple demo apps I’ve built. It’s a simple Flex app that lets the user draw with their mouse and then lets them save their drawing. I’ve updated the Flex Paint demo to Flex 4. Check it out: (View the source code)
Posted in Flex | 22 Comments