The thing I like the most about the ZendFramework is their tool which comes as a part of their library download. I have mainly used the tool to create the controllers and actions and so far it has been a time saver and has helped me to see how the framework works in a few keystrokes.

After the first site was a success the next step will be to convert a site with a simple CMS built in Kohana to the ZendFramework, I have to admit that there were two things that held me back for a while into using the ZendFramework.

Speed

I read in different blogs how slow ZendFramework was compared to other frameworks such as Kohana, CI, CakePHP and even the new framework called Yii. The graphic below is one of my many findings:

(Source yiiframework.com)

But it is obvious that as the time goes by the framework is getting better and seems like it is getting faster as well.

Initial setup

When I tried the framework for the first time was about a year ago or so, it was brand new and people were still getting their heads around it as well as was very limited content in the subject so my first attempt to try it was a failure but months later I come back and wow, what a difference. Not only that but I stayed away from the full package and downloaded the minimal package and started just with the library and it was a breeze.

It is nice to have different packages to choose from and that they get better day by day. So far Zend has made it an easy transition and a nice new PHP development start.

To my surprise the Optimizer tool did optimize the SWF files but just by a few bytes:

Test 1:
..._concept1_v1_alt.swf (56569 bytes)
..._concept1_v1_alt_optimized.swf (56456 bytes)

Test 2:
...600_Flash_v1.swf (38164 bytes)
...600_Flash_v1_optimized.swf (38127 bytes)

I also ran a test against a custom SWF file inside a SWC file and this is the result:

...DropDown/library.swf (14810 bytes)
...DropDown/library_optimized.swf (11723 bytes)

So the SWC files are bloated with extra information no needed and can be compressed quite a bit but SWF file no love. And it does make sense since the SWF files that I was testing contain a lot of graphics but I still gave it a go.

Here you can ind more information about Optimizing RSL SWF Files.

Notes from PureMVC Framework - The Flex Show

Intro

Cliff Hall - Architect of the PureMVC project
Cliff stared doing Assembly language for Commodore 64 in 1982 ( one analogy Cliff used was that programming in Assembly is like building a skyscraper out of molecules you are constantly evaluating the number of bytes that the arguments and instructions are taking, you are constantly just looking at things on a microscopic level, and it is awesome because you really make it do what you want it to do, but it is difficult to make really large applications. Higher level languages that are more English like allows to express our thoughts in a much more natural way to us)

Newer OOP languages allows you to use Design Patterns to assemble "teams" to fix issues just as you would assemble teams to fix business issues.

Problem that needs to be solved

Flex is a big framework and in some ways it is a toolkit. Tools that you can take and assemble, but the important thing is how you assemble those items together properly.
All different applications people build break down to basic small problems
Once you use PureMVC all you have to worry about is problem domain and concentrate only on this
Assuming I am new to Flex and PureMVC how would you explain it to me?

Understanding the scope of what the framework is trying to do for you

PureMVC separates the issues in 3 piles

MODEL : Data
VIEW : Representation of Data
CONTROLLER : Bridges the two ( model + view ) and it is where the hefty logic in the application happens (update view and model)

Using MVC allows you to use views components and transfer them to a different system since it is not tied specifically to one application. Similar happens with Model, you can take it and use it in a different environment.

By making this separation you can move your Views to a different area and in a similar way you can move your Models since they do know about the existence of each other.

The Logic is not spread across the whole application but contained in their own area. You can also scale easier.

The business logic often goes into the controller?

Into the controller region, usually it is embodied in commands that are executed by the controller.

PureMVC has been ported to different languages. The issue is not if MVC is the wrong solution is the implementation that needs to be studied.

Proxies are objects that represent the Data.

Expanding on the Mediator Pattern

Move the data from the Model, for instance the Command
A command start up the application and instantiate the Proxies that will represent the Model and model will insatiate that will wrap around the view components

The application will build itself first and then tells PureMVC to start up. then builds proxies and mediators, Proxies might go and request data right away or when it is required

Say the proxies ask data that is needed to populate the application. Once the information is back into the Proxy, the proxy will send a notification.

In the view component you will use an event (like clicking on a button) and sends an event "add user".

The Mediator will be listening for that event and the will send a notification that might be picked up by a command that will tell a proxy "Go get me a user".

The Mediator when they are registered with the View Component they list all the notifications they are interested in. When the notification comes back from Proxy then it acts upon it, and that is how data gets from the Model to the view without binding.

The components expose an API and knows nothing about the API apparatus at all. events it will emit and properties that can be set. And the Mediator knows properties it can edit and events it can listen to.

Compare PureMVC to Cairngorm

The viewHelper and how they are implemented.
You access through the components, you bind items directly and tie up to the system.
Have worked with it and it is good but a lot of people didn't get it, saw some some prototypes ready to be turn into an app scrapped and started from scratch because the people didn't know much about design patterns, Flex or Cairngorm. So it seemed like Cairngorm set a high bar just to get started.

Other ports

There was a talk about some ports during the recording of this podcast but by now there has been almost 10 ports.

Here is a sample as a reference:

#!/bin/bash
# Convert all mov files into flv
counter=0
mov=flvMovie
currmov=$mov$counter
ext=.flv
for file in *.mov; do
let counter=counter+1
currmov=$mov$counter$ext
ffmpeg -i $file -ar 22050 -f flv -ab 56 -aspect 4:3 -b 200 -r 12 -s 320x240 -ac 1 $currmov
done

You can activate block folding by pressing F1 and this is how the content is going to look like:

Unfolded

Folded:

One of my desires is to find out how to jump through blocks of code rather than using the arrow keys to navigate through them.

Many people have placed their 2 cents to answer and I wanted to take a stab at it:

Short Answer : AS1 = No, AS2 = Yes.

Long Answer: I haven't touched AS1 for years now and I haven't had a reason why or at least the company I am working for and my freelance clients haven't requested it. In regards to AS2 I still use it continuously. I would say that AS2 is 20% of my work while the other 80% is AS3. The reason being is because there are clients that they still need to reach broad audiences and we need to compile movies compatible with older players. Granted a lot of people have upgraded their plug in but when your marketing package has to reach the most people possible then you have to do your best to provide the proper services.

Many times when we think of Flash/Actionscript development we think of Website or Application development but one big item that uses flash heavely is banner development, some banners are almost micro sites and the requirements for banner deployment are still very rudimentary. Most sites that serve banner ads still require Flash 6, 7 or 8. Some are taking the leap to Flash 9 but under test/beta environment so if you have a game/micro site that will be loaded into a banner you still have to write your code in AS2.