Are you keeping up with the Joneses?
Since the introduction of Flash 8 last year, a lot has changed in the development arsenal of the average Flash programmer. I make my living creating Flash applications, and the development cycle and client deadlines have left little time to explore the latest and greatest techniques and wonders hidden within the newest Flash player.
Am I using ActionScript 3.0 yet? Hell, I’ve barely scratched the surface on AS 2.0 so far. Well then, surely I must be integrating Ajax technologies within my Web-based apps, yes? Um, no. Ajax is still just a bathroom cleaner to me.
But what about sIFR? MTASC? FLAME? Eclipse? Web 2.0? Velobrox? The 8.5 player and video layering? Well… no. Trust me; I want to use ‘em, and I plan to experiment with them, but so far, I just haven’t needed ‘em yet.
Truth is, I spend most of my waking hours sitting in front of the Flash IDE and SEPY ActionScript editor these days, and I get a great deal of work done (and a great deal of play, to boot). Although I’m working my butt off and developing new skills all the time, I can’t help but occasionally look up and notice a new buzzword or pet technology that just doesn’t seem to fit what I’m working on at that moment.
In the past two months, I’ve worked on four e-Learning modules, three new Web-based games, a Flashified database front-end and a Flash-enabled interface to my TiVo unit. But I have yet to actually use anything I’ve downloaded from the bleeding-edge Macromedia Adobe Developer Center.
Am I getting stale? Or just running along a different path than others I meet on the mean streets of the Internet?
And what’s your development skill set looking like these days? (Poll and comments are open!)
jal_democracy(7);
I’m way behind the curve. I don’t even know what velobrox is. Google doesn’t bring up anything meaningful either. Care to clue me in?
Given that I’m more about creating Flash based sites that are mostly in it for the aesthetic factor, there’s not much on that list that I need either.
Do I work on learning more development? Certainly, but I’ve barely scratched the surface on AS 2.0 either.
It’s a struggle just trying to keep up with it all these days…must be getting old or else – the Flash platform is clearly getting to the point of specialization which is cool.
But here’s my best advice – if there’s one thing all Flash Developers *really* should check out and get to grips with it’s FlashDevelop. Only got jiggy with it over the last couple of weeks myself but it is the shiznit. It’s a really excellent actionscript editor (and more) with project support that comes bundled with MTASC and means *really* fast build times compared to building from MMC, plus all the benefits of some excellent code hinting and so on. We’re talking instant workflow benefits that will blow your mind.
If there’s one thing you really owe it to yourself to check out, it’s this:
http://osflash....rg/flashdevelop
Definitely hear what you’re saying – it is very challenging trying to keep up with the latest and greatest. The demand for experienced developers is huge right now. Everyone I know is turning away work, so finding time to learn new technologies or expanding your skill set beyond the scope of what a given project demands is often an expensive luxury. Still, I try to find time – maybe an hour or two per day – to research what others are doing and hopefully learn something that I can somehow apply.
FlashDevelop looks interesting (just dl’d it). Though, I have (happily) been using SE|PY w/ MTASC for quite some time and replacing something that works well with something that may or may not work better is not a priority for the reasons mentioned above.
I am ‘still’ developing with AS2 and am not sure when I’ll hop up to AS3 (though I have FP8.5 installed). I’m not currently seeing any demand in the marketplace for Flex development, so am reluctant to go down that road (yet). I have been following the OSFlash movement, but more out of curiosity than necessity – I’ll probably experiment a bit more with AME in the coming months. I’ve got my own ‘OS’ project that may never see the light of day and a blog I can’t seem to find time to update, etc. Too much work / too little time – but that’s a good thing
Velobrox. That Dr. lied.
I digress.
I’m still floundering with unholy hybrids of AS1.0 and AS2.0. I’ve never even touched AS3.0. And I don’t know what most of that other stuff you talked about is. I’m so behind…
I’ve got a bunch of Flash books on my shelf, and I’ve only browsed through half of them, and there’s still even more out there I’ve been wanting to read. I think, ‘I’ll really study them and then I’ll be the Flash programming master and all will be well.’ But lately, I’ve been coming to grips with the idea that I may never read those books and never become the programming master I thought I needed to become. Since my daughter’s birth, my priorities have shifted and while I won’t shy away from a technical challenge and still have the desire to read and learn and grow, I just don’t have the guilt I used to have about not knowing the latest and most technical aspects of ActionScript, or any of the web development languages for that matter. And without the guilt, there is less of a impetus to throw myself into personal project just to learn the new skills (i.e., games). I guess that might change if I had more downtime at work, since I’ve been slammed with a lot of projects lately myself.
Im with you man !! Every time something new comes out Im panicing like crazy ! It feels like Im being left behind….
Its a vicious circle, if you are busy, you don’t have time to learn all thins new stuff, but if your not busy … you are probable not doing to great. Unfortunatelly most of the stuff that makes money (talking Flash) is not cutting edge …