Re: [flexcoders] modules vs. sub-applications

2009-09-23 Thread Chris Sheffield

Alex,

Thanks so much for the info. Good things to keep in mind.


--
Chris Sheffield
Read Naturally, Inc.
www.readnaturally.com

On Sep 22, 2009, at 3:28 PM, Alex Harui wrote:



Hopefully you’ve read through the modules and marshall plan posts on  
my blog.




Sub-apps can share code via RSLs.

You can’t jump immediately to either a sub-app or module; it has to  
load first.


You can build custom test harnesses for either.



There are three main criteria: size, integration and security.   
Modules are generally smaller because they are optimized for a  
particular host.  Sub-apps must carry their own weight because they  
are capable of running on their own.  Modules sacrifice security for  
tight integration: they assume they have direct references to the  
host.  Sub-applications can be written in a way that they don’t  
assume direct access to the main application and that allows you to  
sandbox the sub-app so it can’t do mean things.  Sandboxing also  
allows the application to be written with a different version of  
Flex.  However there are UI and performance limitations.




If you own and will always own every line of code that runs, modules  
are going to be faster and smaller.




Alex Harui

Flex SDK Developer

Adobe Systems Inc.

Blog: http://blogs.adobe.com/aharui









RE: [flexcoders] modules vs. sub-applications

2009-09-22 Thread Alex Harui
Hopefully you've read through the modules and marshall plan posts on my blog.

Sub-apps can share code via RSLs.
You can't jump immediately to either a sub-app or module; it has to load first.
You can build custom test harnesses for either.

There are three main criteria: size, integration and security.  Modules are 
generally smaller because they are optimized for a particular host.  Sub-apps 
must carry their own weight because they are capable of running on their own.  
Modules sacrifice security for tight integration: they assume they have direct 
references to the host.  Sub-applications can be written in a way that they 
don't assume direct access to the main application and that allows you to 
sandbox the sub-app so it can't do mean things.  Sandboxing also allows the 
application to be written with a different version of Flex.  However there are 
UI and performance limitations.

If you own and will always own every line of code that runs, modules are going 
to be faster and smaller.

Alex Harui
Flex SDK Developer
Adobe Systems Inc.<http://www.adobe.com/>
Blog: http://blogs.adobe.com/aharui

From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com [mailto:flexcod...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf 
Of Chris Sheffield
Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 9:29 AM
To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [flexcoders] modules vs. sub-applications



Hi all,

I'm brand new to Flex. Well, maybe not brand new, but almost. I've
been reading books and working on tutorials for a couple months now,
but my company is just getting started on our first Flex project. I'm
excited to be working with Flex. I'm realizing there is still a lot to
learn.

Here is my first big question. I think I'm asking for more of an
opinion from other developers than anything, but I'm also curious to
know if there is a "best practice" kind of answer. I've been reading
through the Flex documentation and through other sources about using
modules vs. sub-applications. I think I understand pretty well the
difference between the two. The application we'll be creating will
consist of multiple screens, or views, that school students will work
their way through one screen at a time. Each screen, for the most
part, is independent of another, but some screens are similar in that
the student will perform similar activities on them. So there will
probably be some screens that will need to share code. We would also
like to make use of the same screens in such a way that someone in our
company can test/verify certain pieces of content (for example, text,
audio, pictures, etc), and see this content exactly as a student would
see it by jumping directly to a specific screen. Hopefully I've
provided enough information for someone to tell me, in your opinion,
would it be best to use modules or sub-apps for the individual
screens? I wasn't sure if it would even be possible to jump into a
specific screen if it were a module. I think I'm leaning toward using
sub-apps, but wondered if there are any major drawbacks. What about if
sub-apps need to share classes, methods, properties, etc.?

Looking forward to your responses.

Thanks,
Chris

--
Chris Sheffield
Read Naturally, Inc.
www.readnaturally.com



[flexcoders] modules vs. sub-applications

2009-09-22 Thread Chris Sheffield
Hi all,

I'm brand new to Flex. Well, maybe not brand new, but almost. I've  
been reading books and working on tutorials for a couple months now,  
but my company is just getting started on our first Flex project. I'm  
excited to be working with Flex. I'm realizing there is still a lot to  
learn.

Here is my first big question. I think I'm asking for more of an  
opinion from other developers than anything, but I'm also curious to  
know if there is a "best practice" kind of answer. I've been reading  
through the Flex documentation and through other sources about using  
modules vs. sub-applications. I think I understand pretty well the  
difference between the two. The application we'll be creating will  
consist of multiple screens, or views, that school students will work  
their way through one screen at a time. Each screen, for the most  
part, is independent of another, but some screens are similar in that  
the student will perform similar activities on them. So there will  
probably be some screens that will need to share code. We would also  
like to make use of the same screens in such a way that someone in our  
company can test/verify certain pieces of content (for example, text,  
audio, pictures, etc), and see this content exactly as a student would  
see it by jumping directly to a specific screen. Hopefully I've  
provided enough information for someone to tell me, in your opinion,  
would it be best to use modules or sub-apps for the individual  
screens? I wasn't sure if it would even be possible to jump into a  
specific screen if it were a module. I think I'm leaning toward using  
sub-apps, but wondered if there are any major drawbacks. What about if  
sub-apps need to share classes, methods, properties, etc.?

Looking forward to your responses.

Thanks,
Chris

--
Chris Sheffield
Read Naturally, Inc.
www.readnaturally.com