Quick poll on debugging and tooling for Flex and PHP projects

As you know, one of my focuses as a Platform evangelist is Flex and PHP integration. Thus you can imagine I spend quite a lot of time doing Flex and PHP projects or research around these technologies. Lately I’ve been working on workflows for PHP and Flex (tooling, debugging, libraries) in light of the new tools (or new versions) we have been developing at Adobe. While some of these findings will see the light as articles, others are more intended as suggestions or feature request for upcoming versions of Flash Builder.

I’m really curious to find out:

What tools are you using?
What do you use for debugging?
What frameworks (AMFPHP, Zend Framework, Doctrine etc) do you use when working on Flex and PHP projects?
And the most important question: What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?

Please take some time and drop a comment with your thoughts around these questions.

And because I understand it takes some time to answer these questions, I want to give away three Flash Builder 4 licenses. I will choose randomly three lucky people from those who take the survey. The winners will be announced at the end of March, however you’ll get the licenses once we release Flash Builder 4 (now it is in Beta 2). Make sure you fill in your real name and a valid email address.

LATER EDIT: The winners of this raffle are: Mario Kralj, chandra shekhar pant, and Ben Dalton! Congratulations and pretty soon you’ receive the license.

February 25, 2010 | Filed Under Flex, PHP

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59 Responses to “Quick poll on debugging and tooling for Flex and PHP projects”

1. Derek O'Brien on February 25th, 2010 1:25 pm

1 – Eclipse and Flex Builder 3 (educational)

2 – DeMonster eclipse built in debugger

3 – ZendAMF

4 – Very happy with the current workflow in FB3, used FB4b1 for a bit and loved it but not tried recent betas as I only teach actionscript and FB3 is installed in the college I work at.
2. Pirvulescu Adrian on February 25th, 2010 1:27 pm

1. Tools:
– PhpED (from Nusphere)
– Eclipse
– SQLyog, MSSqlExpress
– C#

2. Debugging:
– PhpED (for php)
– Eclipse (for java)
– C# (for .Net web-services)
– tcp-spy for network monitor on socket issues

3. Frameworks:
– AMFPHP

4. I would like besides the bug fixes, to have a faster compiler.
When I edit a file I would like the file to be automatically selected in the project explorer tree (or to have an option to enable/disable this).
Sometimes the code assist does not work, if I am working inside an AS file which is included as a script for an mxml component.
Installing Flex/Flash Builder on Linux requires the user more than normal Linux skills (too difficult to setup for normal users and sometimes the debugger does not work even if you take the tutorial step by step).
3. James on February 25th, 2010 1:29 pm

I haven’t done much PHP & Flex, but I have done one project. And hey, for the chance of a Flash Builder 4 license, why not?

Tools: Flex Builder 3 / Flash Builder, Eclipse, Dreamweaver
Debugging: Flex Builder
Frameworks: AMFPHP, PureMVC
Flash Builder features: Customisable project templates (so we can build things like a template for new PureMVC projects), class generation – ala FDT.
4. Iacob Nasca on February 25th, 2010 1:32 pm

- For PHP I use Zend Studio and Notepad++, for Flex I use Flash Builder and FlashDevelop for AS only projects.

- For PHP debug I use only FireBug with FirePHP because I never do step by step execution. For Flex, Flash Builder of course and few other custom made tools.

- only tried AMFPHP.

- Flash Builder needs to take a lot less memory when running. Other than that, it would be nice to have a coding standards enforcement tool (like CodeSniffer is for PHP) and a faster compiler.
5. Jhon on February 25th, 2010 1:38 pm

1,2) Flex Builder 4
3) I develop my own php xquery
4) I need a free event calendar
component like IBM ilog elixir 2.5.

Regards
6. Barna Biro on February 25th, 2010 1:38 pm

1) Tools:
– PhpEd for Php development
– Flex Builder ( usually the plug-in version )
– SQLyog ( for Database management )

2) Debugging:
– PhpEd does quite a nice job
– Flex Builder
– FireBug for more simple stuff

3) Frameworks:
– AMFPHP
– Zend Framework ( just for the sake of change )

4) What Flash Builder needs:
– The way the packages are organized in Flash Builder are extremely painful! I love the way folder/packages are organized in Flex Builder, so I’d really like if things would remain the same.
– When setting the “source” property of the Script tag, I’d expect the IDE to take me to the .as file I have specified when hitting F3 ( CTRL + CLICK )… now, we always have to manually look for attached source file.
– The ability to define Macros would be great! File templates are indeed handy but having macros would be also great. I could then create custom macros for different types of comment blocks ( I really like to have tidy and well commented code ).
– Better ASDoc support ( although things got improved quite seriously in Flash Builder, I still feel that ASDoc is not yet at the level where it should be )
– Better syntax highlighting. For example, I’d like to highlight certain data types in a certain way ( for start, the core types would be nice… later on, it would be nice to apply such styles to custom types too and so on ). Highlighting is really important and can be a life saver when “scanning” the code for essential pieces of information. So, more advanced options for highlighting are definitely welcome! :)
– Better debugging features when dealing with events. The current debugger doesn’t always give too much information about where did an event come from, how did a certain method get triggered, who triggered it and why and so on.
– Easy IDE skinning! :) I know that with some effort, it is possible to kinda skin the IDE ( “pimp it” ) but I’d really like to have some options somewhere that will allow easy IDE customization. Just think about cars… How would the World look like if everyone would drive the same car that is of same color, has the same rims, same everything? It would be extremely awkward!!! So, “let’s PIMP OUT IDE” ( the easy way )!!!

That would be “my short list” :) Cheers!
7. Barna Biro on February 25th, 2010 1:55 pm

Ohh, almost forgot… Regarding customization: I’d really like to have a custom splash screen that would display random text upon launch like: “Welcome Master.” or “I am your slave, command me!” ( beside text, it could also play a sound, an animation or something ). I know that this sounds silly for some, but silly things like this would surely boost my day, than having to see the same boring interface/splash screen over and over again ( for years ). “The tiny things” can sometimes make the “huge difference”.

* Dreams on… * :)
8. FlexLover on February 25th, 2010 2:13 pm

1 Flex Builder 3 (educational)
2 Flex Builder 3 (educational)
3 AMFPHP
4 Improvement of audio, new class for audio generation, access to audioCard (midi).
9. Thomas Rühl on February 25th, 2010 2:20 pm

Hi Mihai, nice effort :)

This is an overview of my current configuration:

* Toolset:
- Development (jsut the most important ones)
– Eclipse
– FlexBuilder 3 Plugin
– cfEclipse
– phpEclipse
– Mylyn

- Deployment
– ANT
– Maven

* what do you use for debugging
- FlexBuilder Debugging and Profiling
- Firebug and web developer toolbar on the JS/HTML side
- Alcon for on-site debugging and flashlog examination, if nesseccary

* what frameworks (AMFPHP, Zend Framework, Doctrine etc) do you use when working on Flex and PHP projects
- Server side
– Coldfusion
– Zend Framework
– SabreAMF
– AMFPHP
- Client side
– Flex SDK Core and datavisualization components
– Cairngorm (2) with some customizations
– UniversalMind extensions (flexcairngorm)
– Flexlib
– AS3CoreLib
– Flex-Spellcheck
– Yahoo! Astra-Flex
– Autocomplete component (by Hillel Coren)
– and a self-developed lib which emerged over the last years since early Flex 2 betas ;)

* And the most important question: what features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?
- Proper Java-style and -level code management
– package explorer
– refactoring
– integrated code coverage tools (FlexPME style)
– improved integrated ASDoc support
– enforcement of comments (proper commenting, not just to allow stubs)

- Better team support
– resolve environment-specific dependencies in .actionScriptProperties, so developers can start off easily when checking out a project

- Support for changes to generated code
– will be overwritten regardless of customizations with FB3, i.e. WSDL wizard

That’s it for now, I guess..

See you next time :)
Cheers, Thomas
10. ricardo on February 25th, 2010 2:38 pm

1. Flex Builder 3
2. Flex Debugger
3. AMFPHP using AMFPHPService Class
4. Really the FlashDevelop and FDT features like refactoring, automatic code generation, etc, are the features I like most. And of course, the best Flash-Flash Builder integration Adobe can produce will make me very very very satisfied :)
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12. katopz on February 25th, 2010 3:36 pm

1. Tool : FDT, IntelliJ IDEA
2. Debug : Flash Tracer, Charles Proxy
3. Framework : AMFPHP
4. Request : merge Charles Proxy would be nice, and can be toggle new features and/or optimize speed would be cool because my last try on Flash Builder is too slow and bug on tool tip (pop up asdoc) that i can’t turn off for some reason, thx!
13. Ben Dalton on February 25th, 2010 3:36 pm

Flash Builder Beta (Standalone)
Eclipse/Aptana Studio (PHP/Java Dev)
TextMate (Mac)

For Debugging:
Flash Builder (of course)
Charles Debugging Proxy (this rocks!)

PHP Projects:
ZendAMF + Kohana PHP Framework (I built a module)
AMFPHP

Flash Builder Improvements:
* Flex Source Code Formatter Plugin installed by default.
* SVN/GIT Integration out of the box
* ASDOC generation part of the build process w/ no config
* Debug view allowing visual inspection of running app (ala DeMonster Debugger)
14. Catalin Saveanu on February 25th, 2010 3:49 pm

1.Tools:
Flex Builder
FlashDevelop

2.Debugging:
Flex Builder
De MonsterDebugger
Flash-console
Flash Tracer

3.Frameworks:
AMFPHP
Cairngorm
Mate
WebOrb

4. Flash Builder needs:
FlashDevelop features
Better integration with Adobe products (ex: Flash)
Faster compiler
15. Ross Ritchey on February 25th, 2010 3:54 pm

1. Flex Builder 3 / Flash Builder 4 B2
Dreamweaver
2. Flex/Flash Builder
DeMonster AIR Runtime Debugger
3. none (haven’t had the time in personal or professional life to learn any frameworks for Flex. I’ve been looking at PureMVC for a while now, though)
4. Better documentation! Many MXML things (I’m a recent convert from Flash) are very lightly documented, and require searching for tutorials and tips from various developers online. It would be nice to get this in the IDE.
Also, better code completion. Many times I try to nest tags illegally because I don’t know any better in the situation, and have to rely on the compiler to tell me I wrote it wrong. It would be great if the code completion didn’t give me the option.
16. Sean on February 25th, 2010 5:02 pm

1 – Flex, Aptana, Visual Studio (C#)
3 – AmfPHP
4 – SVN, Easier viewing and working with SQLite
17. cristi on February 25th, 2010 5:42 pm

1) Flex Builder, Eclipse, Flashdevelop, Visual Studio
2) For flash applications: Flex Debugger, Charles Proxy, Firebug (yes Firebug)
3) Zend Framework

4)
a) A smarter autocomplete (if I type :str the chances are 99.99% that I mean String and not StreamingAMFChannel)
b) A wizard to easily bundle documentation in swc’s.
c) forget about swfobject, use back the old system
d) built in SQLite Database support.

Please pick me for the Flash Builder License.
18. Martiniuc Andrei on February 25th, 2010 6:27 pm

Hello,

1. Flex Builder, Flash Builder, Eclipse PDT, NetBeans
2. Flex Builder, Flash Builder, Zend_Debug (i know it sounds funny but i like it a lot), Firebug, Web Developer toolbar
3. Zend Framework, Cairngorm
4. Mysql Browser(Zend Studio 5 had such thing and it ruled), rapid code hinting
19. Schwartz Alex on February 25th, 2010 7:02 pm

Hy,

Tools: Flex Builder 3 and Eclipse
Debugging: Flex Builder
Frameworks: AMFPHP, Cairngorm
Needs: -Better integration with Adobe products
-Better code completion
-A faster compiler
20. Markus on February 25th, 2010 7:03 pm

Hi,

1. Flex/Flash Builder
2. Flex/Flash Builder
3. AMFPHP
4. Better documentation

Regards
Markus
21. chandra shekhar pant on February 25th, 2010 7:57 pm

* What tools are you using?

Flex Builder – with all its capabilities escpecially “Profiler”

* What do you use for debugging?

Have tried quite a few. Monster Debugger is better.
ServiceCapture or Charles is a must for tracking AMF calls especially

* What frameworks (AMFPHP, Zend Framework, Doctrine etc) do you use when working on Flex and PHP projects?

Have tried AMFPHP and Zend. People behind Zend seems to be gearing up and I expected a better community support soon.. by far its good… The guys behind AMFPHP were invisible for a long time.
Cairngorm with UM extension worked well for me as an architectural framework

* And the most important question: What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?

Continous Integration and Unit Testing is still a pain
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23. Jose Carlos Fiel on February 25th, 2010 8:28 pm

1) Tools:
- Eclipse
- Flash Builder Beta 2

2) Debugging:
- Flex: use Flash Debug perspective.
- PHP: use Charles Proxy

3) Frameworks:
- Zend Framework + Doctrine + Zend Amf (large projects)
- Zend Amf (small projects)

4) I believe that the main difficulty of Flex and PHP developers in Brazil is debug errors generated in PHP. It would be interesting to incorporate Flash Builder is an easier way to debug these codes or to test my classes as the AMFPHP browser.
Also miss Data Push in PHP, something like that occurs in BlazeDS if possible.
24. Jim Abbott on February 25th, 2010 8:29 pm

* What tools are you using?

Flex Builder 3, IntelliJ IDEA 8.*

* What do you use for debugging?

Flex Builder (AS3), logging (PHP)

* What frameworks (AMFPHP, Zend Framework, Doctrine etc) do you use when working on Flex and PHP projects?

My own MVC framework (AS3), Smarty template engine (PHP)

* And the most important question: What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?

1) Examples and ‘good practice’ guides on recommended folder structures for Flex only applications and for Flex plus PHP (or Java) applications. This should also explain, IN DETAIL, a) what all those fiddly Eclipse/Flex Builder configuration files are doing; b) how to configure them; c) when/how to safely move them (i.e., when moving a Flex project or when putting it into a version control system, etc.) (Comment: it seems all too easy to ‘break’ a Flex project, just by moving or renaming files–there seem to be some undocumented/poorly documented dependencies or constraints)

2) Better support (or, at least, documentation and examples) for creating ‘hybrid’ (or client plus server) applications (i.e., Flex plus Java, Flex plus PHP). This should include how to modify Flex Builder (or Eclipse) to support this, plus some typical/recommended ways to configure it.

3) Data binding is powerful, and a real time/code saver! When it works . . . If it is _not_ working, it can sometimes be a pain to figure out what’s gone wrong. Or, why performance is poor. It would be great to have a tool which (non-invasively) monitors data binding and the underlying event flows. This should tool should work dynamically, at runtime (like a logger or debugger); but give a visual depiction of the data (update) flows and events. It would be nice if the tool could also detect such things as:
- custom events which are never handled
- events which have an excessive number of listeners
- [Bindable] variables that are unused
- etc.
25. george on February 25th, 2010 8:45 pm

1. Flex Builder, NetBeans
2. Flex Builder, Flash Builder, Firebug, Web Developer toolbar
3. Zend Framework, Cairngorm
4. i’ll go for Mysql Browser, too
26. Lionel on February 25th, 2010 10:13 pm

This article sums it up nicely for Flash Builder 4 and PHP coding.

http://miti.pricope.com/2009/07/09/debug-flex-and-php-using-flash-builder-4-and-pdt/

ZendAMF on the server

Additionaly, Lee Brimlow’s code snippets plugin for Flash Builder 4

http://theflashblog.com/?p=1494

Right now, the best thing adobe can do for Flash Builder 4 / Flex 4 is publish a Classroom in a Book to prepare individuals interested in ACE certification with Flex.
27. Philoo on February 25th, 2010 10:58 pm

- FB 3 professional
- PhpEdit from waterproof.com
- MySQL

For debugging
- fiddler2
- heidi SQL

Fremworks
- Zend Amf and a bit of Zend for Authentication

I would love to have DataGrid/AdvancedDataGrid and charts versions for FB4 with bugs fixed, and more speed optimized version.
28. Rob Sheely on February 25th, 2010 11:49 pm

Tools:
-Flash Builder Beta
-FlashDevelop
-Eclipse PHP Development Tools
-Subversive
-Navicat Lite (for remote MySQL viewing/editing)
Debugging:
-Flash Builder
-Charles
-FlexSpy (helpful in exploring why something isn’t displaying how I intended it to)
Frameworks:
-AMFPHP
Needs:
-More refactoring tools
-Better code completion
-Easier debugging with events
29. Albert on February 26th, 2010 1:16 am

Hi all,

1. What tools are you using?
- FlashBuilder Beta 2
- Netbeans for PHP
- Eclipse JEE for Java

2. What do you use for debugging?
- FlashBuilder Beta 2
- FireBug / FlashBug
- Charles

3. What frameworks do you use when working on Flex and PHP projects?
AMFPHP, Zend Framework (Better than amfphp imho), Doctrine (I really like yaml and hibernate like ORM).
I love SWIZ framework for its simplicity (I tried mate and puremvc) and power

4. What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?

PAGING, PAGING , PAGING please!!!
but not in the state like it is now: connected with zend ONLY , wizard dependend and somehow it does not work. It produces tons of code … it is not usable.
Maybe better would be when you create COMPONENT with defined interfce to get objects and count … ideally based on iterator pattern.

peace
Alebrt
30. Nabeel Molham on February 26th, 2010 2:08 am

hi guys,

Q- What tools are you using?
A- well was using flash IDE for my flash app developing then adobe flex 2 then 3 and now all my flash & AIR developing in flash builder 4 and for my php apps i used notpad++ then phpeclipse and not PDT.

Q- What do you use for debugging?
A- Flash : FB3, FB4 and Flash IDE
PHP : PHPEclipse, Zend Studio and PDT

Q- What frameworks for working on Flex and PHP projects?
A- AMFPHP then ZendAMF

Q- What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?
A- well there most 2 things I want most
1- More and More stability
2- reliable Debuging PHP and ASP.NET with the FB4 with no need for more plugins

thanks Mihai for this wonderful topic
31. Nabeel Molham on February 26th, 2010 2:09 am

this is my correct email n.molham@gmail.com
32. Paweł Dawczak on February 26th, 2010 2:34 am

I’m new in FLEX, but I find it a cool technology, so I try to lern about it as I can.

I’m symfony developer, so I’m using sfAmfPlugin basend on Zend_Amf.

For developing Flex code I’m using FlexBuilder 3 Education license, and for PHP code – Netbeans
33. Balazs Sebesteny on February 26th, 2010 6:38 am

1) What tools are you using?
Flex Builder 3 / Standalone and Plugin
Flash CS4 Professional

2) What do you use for debugging?
Charles
Flex Builder 3
Flash Tracer

3) What frameworks (AMFPHP, Zend Framework, Doctrine etc) do you use when working on Flex and PHP projects?
AMFPHP, CakePHP

4) And the most important question: What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?
pageable recordset / dataservices
34. nik on February 26th, 2010 7:52 am

try Nusphere Phped (debug incl.)
35. Doru Dan on February 26th, 2010 12:19 pm

For my only Flex/PHP project (regularly I’m into integration with .NET) I used the following
#1. Tools
- NuSphere PhpED
- Flex Builder 3
#2 (same tools for debugging)
#3 AMFPHP as framework (used it because the community support is rather large for this one)
#4 This is what I expect from the next version of the Builder
- Improved expression evaluator
- Improved memory profiling. Let’s consider the following scenario:
* You have a web application (JS/HTML interface)
* You need to log in and navigate through several pages until you get to your Flash page
* Socket connection of the profiler does not always catch the flash applet (I’d like to always see that happen in the next version)
* Rest of my complaints are related to the SDK :)

Cheers!
36. polyGeek on February 26th, 2010 6:27 pm

* What tools are you using?
Flash Builder 4 beta 2
I edit PHP files with the text editor

* What do you use for debugging?
I scratch my head a lot. If something is particularly troubling then I make a PHP file and run the code in a browser so that I can see the PHP errors. Otherwise I just write my MySQL statements in the SQL editor of phpMyAdmin and then copy it to the PHP class when it works. I know, a shitty process but it works for me.

* What frameworks
I use AMFPHP for everything.

* What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?
Besides fixing my shitty MySQL code…I can’t think of anything. All I do is Flex so I’m unaware of other workflows that might have advantages.
37. Brendan Owen on February 27th, 2010 10:39 am

* What tools are you using?
Flash Professional CS4, Flex Builder 3, Flash Builder 4

* What do you use for debugging?
Mainly the built in debuggers when I am not using trace statements.

* What frameworks (AMFPHP, Zend Framework, Doctrine etc) do you use when working on Flex and PHP projects?
Zend Framework

* And the most important question: What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?
Better wizards to generate stronger typed objects when I connect to MySQL databases. I am struggling with date objects in particular, maybe I am just doing it wrong.
38. Daniele Lazzara on February 27th, 2010 4:06 pm

What tools are you using?
- Flash Professional CS4 + Flash Builder 4
What do you use for debugging?
- Trace function :D and Cocoa Packet Analyzer (for AMF calls)
What frameworks (AMFPHP, Zend Framework, Doctrine etc) do you use when working on Flex and PHP projects?
- I use ZendAMF on PHP/Apache and BlazeDS (+ Spring framework) on Resin
And the most important question: What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?
- 100% integration with Flash Professional CS5 (i know this will happen.. i hope that the actual solution will simplify the workflow very much), and a GREAT debugging tool for AMF. The main problem is that the flash builder debugger is great, but works only on flex projects and not on pure as3 projects.

Thanks,
Daniele
39. Gerardo on February 28th, 2010 1:11 am

* What tools are you using?
Flash Professional CS4, Flex Builder 3, Flash Builder 4

* What do you use for debugging?
Mainly the built in debuggers and Charles web debugging proxy for notify the php response and errors.

* What frameworks (AMFPHP, Zend Framework, Doctrine etc) do you use when working on Flex and PHP projects?
Zend Framework

* And the most important question: What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?
Better separation of code that is a visual components and code that is as3… Maybe in diferents view only as3, components and all together.
40. Carlos Garza on February 28th, 2010 5:38 am

* What tools are you using?
Flash Professional CS4
Flex Builder 3
Flash Builder 4 Beta 3

* What do you use for debugging?
Flex Builder 3,
Flash Builder 4 Beta 3
Firebug + AMF Explorer plugins for Firefox

*What frameworks (AMFPHP, Zend Framework, Doctrine etc) do you use when working on Flex and PHP projects?

-Drupal as webservice platform
-AMFPHP in most of the cases
-Swiz or Mate Flex Frameworks

* What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?

-Introspection of remote AMF php services (not only the ones in my local development enviroment)
-Be able enrich my introspected services with properties styles (Localization, validation, data formats )… yes fiber like!
-Extend client data managment to support basic confict resolution
-Configure Series of Charts like Configure Columns of DataGrid in Flash Bulder
-Animated trasitions for Flex 4 layouts switching
-Data Change Effects for Spark Datagroup
-A round trip workfrow from Creative Suite Flex 4
-Samples of Contextual, Multitouch, Mobile Apps for learning puerpose.

Thanks
Carlos Garza
41. Andrea Varga on February 28th, 2010 2:28 pm

* What tools are you using?
Flex Builder Linux with PHPeclipse
Lately I have been checking out IntelliJ IDEA (as It seems Flash Builder will not run on Linux so I need an alternative). I must say it has some really nice features.

* What do you use for debugging?
the built in debugger, Charles HTTP proxy, Firefox Flash Tracer add-on

* What frameworks?
AMFPHP (thinking of moving to Zend AMF)

* What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?
First of all: support for Linux (except for the Design View, that’s not really necessary).

Thanks for asking!
42. Brayan on March 1st, 2010 3:19 pm

flex builder 3 for students
flash builder 4 beta2

Framework – zend framework
other tool – php designer, zend studio, zend server, wamp5, phpmyadmin, Workflow, Rational, AMFPHP and i like use zendAMF.

Thanks
43. Mario Kralj on March 3rd, 2010 4:09 pm

TOOLS:
- Flex 3
- Eclipse/Aptana Studio
- Coda (Mac)

DEBUGGING:
- Flex debugger
- Charles Debugging Proxy

FRAMEWORKS:
- ZendAMF
- AMFPHP
- CodeIgniter

IMPROVEMENTS:
- Source Code Formatter Plugin installed by default.
- Adopt components/classes/libraries which are developed from other users, but showed themselves better than default components/classes…
44. webdev.andrei on March 3rd, 2010 7:48 pm

Tools:
- Flash Builder 4 + PDT
- Eclipse
- Crimson Editor for small changes
- sometimes Zend Studio

Debugging:
- Flex debugger
- XDebug and/or ZendDebug

Frameworks:
- AmfPhp
- ZendAmf
- Zend Framework

Improvements:
- Better intergration between Flash Builder 4 and Flash Professional
- PHP debugging together with Flash Builder 4 Debugger
- Productivity improvements: Task markers for TODO,FIXME, and XXX comments, etc (see http://elementriver.com/sourcemate/)
45. Antonin Gagelin on March 4th, 2010 11:35 am

* What tools are you using?
Flash Builder 4 beta 2

* What do you use for debugging?
Flex debugger and firebug

* What frameworks?
AMFPHP

* What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?
- Native source code formatter
- AMF debugging tool
- Better management of itemRenderer

Thanks :)
46. Vjekoslav J. on March 4th, 2010 5:42 pm

* What tools are you using?
- Flash Builder 4 Beta (trial) + Zend Studio (only community features)

* What do you use for debugging?
- FirePHP and Zend debugger for PHP, trace :-)

* What frameworks do you use when working on Flex and PHP projects?
- Zend

* And the most important question: What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?
- better design support for data grid (eg. column widths)
- code behind by default (for separating AS from MXML)
- faster switching between design and code
- easier elements alignment and size manipulation

And the last (but not least :-)) it would be really nice to have a Linux version more like the one on Windows

Cheers!
47. Kim Hansen on March 6th, 2010 9:34 pm

>What tools are you using?
FlashBuilder 4 beta, Eclipse

>What do you use for debugging?
FlashBuilder, Service Capture

>What frameworks (AMFPHP, Zend Framework, Doctrine etc) do you use when working on Flex and PHP projects?
Weborb, Blazeds, AMFPHP

>And the most important question: What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?
– More support for refactoring
– Faster compilation
– Better continous integration
– Better support for unit testing
48. Antonio Mano on March 8th, 2010 12:30 am

1 – Eclipse, Adobe Flex Builder 3, Pspad.
2 – Only Flex debuger in eclipse.
3 – Only Zend Amf
4 – Portuguese documentation, examples with complete source of advanced applications and a way to view the interface for the Adobe Flex on Ubuntu.
49. creynders on March 8th, 2010 10:43 am

1/Eclipse, Flex Builder 3, FlashDevelop, Notepad++
2/demonster debugger, Charles Webproxy to view the server communication & AMFPHP browser to test the amfphp service calls
3/amfphp
4/I’ve only worked with FB3 so it could be I’m mentioning stuff that’s already been included with v4:
a. the help files could be a lot better
b. templates. The main reason why i’m not using FB for AS3-only projects is because of it’s lack of creating custom-made templates. In Flashdevelop I’ve created templates for many patterns and/or frameworks and they save me hours.
50. Sohil on March 10th, 2010 3:15 pm

1. Zend Framework integration!!
2. Profiler a little more easily usuable
51. KKC on March 10th, 2010 3:46 pm

4 What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?

– While creating custom component from the existing component, add override the protected methods option with generate constructor with super class option. So that custom code fast and with that learners will know more.
52. Praveen on March 11th, 2010 8:32 am

1) While creating Custom Components I didn’t want to expose the (mxml) controls directly in Code Hinting. So Add a property like ‘accessor’ which accept ‘public/private/internal’ as parameters. if its ‘private’ hide that control from code hinting when object for custom component is created.

2)During Debugging add feature so that we can take the code execution backward. i.e if a method is from line 10 to line 20 and we are in line 18, add a functionality so that we can take the execution back to line 12(This feature is there in Visual Studio.Net)
53. Josh on March 15th, 2010 6:07 pm

So I might be a few days late to the game, but since I specialize in PHP integration I thought I would throw in my two bits. :)

What tools are you using?
I am currently using FB4, and Zend Studio 7. (Separately unfortunately at this point.)

What do you use for debugging?
when I need integrated development / Debugging, I end up using FB 3 plugged into Zend 6. I really really really really really want to plug FB 4 into Zend 7.1 :)

What frameworks (AMFPHP, Zend Framework, Doctrine etc) do you use when working on Flex and PHP projects?
I used to use AMFPHP, but I have since switched to Zend due to better debugging support, and native data-types between Flex and PHP.

And the most important question: What features do you think Flash Builder needs in order to make you a happier/richer developer?

The ability to read my mind? That would be sweet. j/k. In all seriousness, I think Flash Builder is headed in the right direction in it’s integration of PHP. The one feature that I would really like to see mature more is the ability to plug existing PHP into Flash Builder’s code generation tools. It has been my experience in the past that it seemed to get all confused, and didn’t play nicely w/ PHP changes, especially if it was the addition or removal of functions. :/ Also, the data types that it tries to generate are confusing as heck for most people to be able to look @.
54. GARREAU Christophe on March 15th, 2010 7:00 pm

1 – Tools :
- Flash Builder Beta 2
- Flex 3 (Standalone)
- TextMate

2 – Debugging :
- Flex 3 / Flash Builder Debbuger

3 – Frameworks :
- Cairngorm
- Zend Framework
- AMFPHP

4 – Flash Builder Improvements :
- Faster compiler
55. Waldir Borba Junior on March 19th, 2010 3:17 pm

1 – Tools :
- Flash Builder Beta 4
- Notepad++ for PHP
- Eclipse for Java
2 – Debugging :
- Flash Builder Debbuger
3 – Frameworks :
- SWIZ Framework
- Zend
- AMFPHP
56. Jonathan Keener on March 20th, 2010 7:03 pm

1: Tools
– Flex Builder 3 Pro Eclipse Plugin
– UEStudio ’09 (www.ultraedit.com)
– UltraCompare Pro
– Subversive
– FlexPMD

2: Debugging
– Built-in Eclipse Debugger
– Custom runtime debug tool
– FlexSpy

3: Frameworks
– Cairngorm

4: One interesting thing I’ve been thinking about would be to have some option in eclipse to hide trace statements. I use trace statements a bit for some of my debugging, but I hate to leave them in the code because it becomes cluttered. If I had an option to toggle the visibility of them in the editor I could leave them there and toggle the “show trace statements” when I need to add/modify the existing ones. Along with this, it would be nice to be able to set a value on a class by class basis to disable any trace statements for that class. (So when I’m focusing on a specific class for debugging, I can enable the tracing statements for just that area, so as not to clutter the console output)
57. Barna Biro on March 31st, 2010 10:18 am

Congrats to the winners!
You lucky bastards :) Cheers.
58. Nabeel on March 31st, 2010 1:08 pm

who is the winner ?
59. Mihai Corlan on March 31st, 2010 3:01 pm

@Nabeel

LATER EDIT: The winners of this raffle are: Mario Kralj, chandra shekhar pant, and Ben Dalton! Congratulations and pretty soon you’ receive the license.