FlashEx

Dec 21, 2012

Compilation: Flex, ActionScript, Flash job interview questions

Custom Components:

Dec 20, 2012

Checklist: Few things when looking for new job

Here is some checklist which you can use while looking for a new job. Things given here are not in order for now. I will try to sort them later, according to my preferences. You might choose a different order set.

Career Path
Appraisal period & criteria
Medical & Other (Residence, Fuel, Phone, etc) Benefits
Work-Life Balance
Job content
Paycheck - Fixed, Variable, Bonuses, Yearly Hikes, perks
Job Security
Job Location
Leaves & Weekly Offs
Trainings (Soft skills, Core/Tech skills)
Designation & Role
Company/Team expansion plans
Probation period
Opportunities for travelling abroad
Office Timings (Flexible, Fixed, Shift basis)

Aug 2, 2012

Boost performance for your Flex Mobile apps

Use assets swf instead of swc to have faster startup time.
Always use splash screens.
Use Tweener for animations instead of the one built into flex.
For View based mobile applications, create your own implementation of ViewNavigator than the built in one, as it is slow and heavy.
Create your own View Manager than relying on built in ViewNavigator as it doesn't cleanup memory properly which is utmost necessary for your poor mobile app.

Mar 29, 2012

Video Recording from Latin Flash Tour – Buenos Aires

Lee Brimelow's presentation from Buenos Aires. It contains a lot of information about the things he talked about MAX and also includes a Q/A session about the recent events surrounding Flash and HTML5.

MicroPutt

MicroPutt / Adverputt: a Small, very very engaging game.

Feb 7, 2012

New in AS3/Flash/Flex ?

I am seeing this question more now a days.
So here I am archiving few resources to read and understand AS3/Flash/Flex concepts:

I will keep refreshing and reorganizing this list as and when I get some time.

Until that time, enjoy.

Jan 27, 2012

Changing output swf name

Today, I got an interesting problem where I had 4 Flex projects, all had Main.as as their default application file and all dropping their outputs to a common folder.
If you just read this problem, it doesn't seem to be a problem at all (at least I thought so initially), however the problem appears when your want to use all these four project's output SWFs in different pages. And the actual problem is that all of these four projects produce Main.swf as their output thus whoever is the last executable project, gets its bits dropped at the folder and remaining three are left crying.

Now the solution to this problem is also very simple. Just use -output switch in compiler arguments.
In Flex/Flash builder, go to Project > Properties > ActionScript Compiler and add following line inside Additional compiler arguments:

-output=C:/dev/project/bin-debug/Project1.swf

Do this for each project and change the name of swf in above argument.
Good to go...

Nov 10, 2011

How to disable Flash Player for various browsers

If you are creating a site where Flash is used, but want to have this site viewable in platforms where flash is NOT enabled/installed/supported, then you must think of the down level experience you will provide to your users.
Previously the down level experience was to show a "No Flash" module where users were suggested to install flash player by clicking on given link.
The other approach is to have an basic HTML version of your website as a down level experience.
What could be the best is that you use HTML5 capabilities of modern browsers and show higher rich content.

Whatever is your decision, you will have to develop a down level experience. Now there is a small problem during developing such down level experiences. The problem is that how would you test it locally before signing it off for Testers, and how would Testers test it.

There are two approaches to this:

Uninstall flash player (Plugin+ActiveX) from your system, test for down level. Install flash player again to check whether switching between down level and flash is working. Uninstall, Install, Uninstall, Install ....
Disable the Flash Player (Plugin OR ActiveX/Addon). This seems to be very very easy and fast to test and develop. Now there are different ways Flash Player is installed in browsers. For Internet Explorer, it installs as ActiveX or Addon. For Firefox and Chrome, it installs as Plugin.

Firefox: Go to Tools > Add Ons > Plugins and do as directed in screenshot below

Disable Flash in Firefox

Google Chrome: Open new tab and write chrome://plugins and do as directed in screenshot below

Disable flash in Chrome

Internet Explorer: Go to Tools > Manage Addons and do as directed in screenshot below.

Disable flash in Internet Explorer 9

Safari: Click on the Preferences > Uncheck 'Enable plug-ins'.
Opera: Press F12 > Uncheck 'Enable plug-ins'.

Oct 18, 2011

Adobe Certification Hierarchy

Oct 17, 2011

I am an ACE :)

Yesterday (Sunday 16th Oct 2011), I cleared my first ever Adobe Certified Expert certification for Flex 4.5.
I was really happy when I saw the result screen. Though I got marks less than my expectations, but its okay. End of the day, I am pass. I will get my certificate and badge in a few days.

I used following sample exams/tutorials for my preparation: