DBS Interactive Blog

One of the most common questions that still seems to be floating around the web development community is, “Which program should I use for Flash development?”

The answer ultimately depends on the goal of your project. Deciding between which platform to utilize for your project’s goals is not an easy conclusion to reach. Each project has its own different requirements and limitations that influence your final decision. The answer is ultimately reached by carefully considering the scope of the project you are building. If it is for a web based application or fully-functional website, then the answer is almost unanimously Flex. If the website requires a medium to large amount of functionality, then again, Flex is most often the best program to choose for deployment. But if your project’s scope is smaller in complexity and nature, Flash may be a better choice. However, do not disqualify Flex from consideration. One specific condition where Flash is the best option is any project that consist of animations almost exclusively.

In the end, both programs are designed to meet certain programming needs. However, as with any programming language, the Flex-Flash debate can be narrowed down to the Pros and Cons of each. From that point, it’s up to the developer’s level of comfort and what his/her individual preferences may be.

However, we wanted to outline many of the important pros and cons that affect our decisions on every Flash based project we do. In our experience, we almost always use Flex as the primary program for website and application development. This is because we have full time developers, so Flex better suits our needs when trying to build a website and/or application both quickly and efficiently. Still, review the lists below and choose for yourself!

Flex Pros
• More efficient for programming oriented projects
• More efficient for fast user interface layout and skinning
• Fluid layout abilities are built in and on by default
• Ability to use simple and complex assets from a compiled SWF
• For programmers, the environment is more optimized with nice code hinting and XML based component definition.
• Built in support for i18 internationalization and runtime localization
• Visual layout editor for easier user interface design
• Program built on the Eclipse platform which allows further extension of the IDE
• ActionScript framework can be cached by a browser’s flash player for later use among multiple sites
• Compile time is faster since the entire SWF does not have to be recompiled for every change
• Built in support for modular based application architecture

Flex Cons
• No timeline available for drawing objects and animations (solved by using SWF based assets)
• Program built on the Eclipse platform which can sometimes (but not often) cause system performance issues such as CPU load
• More programmer oriented IDE instead of designer oriented
• Compiled SWF files can be at least 300 KB when the framework isn’t exported as Runtime Shared Libraries
• Full understanding of Actionscript 3.0 required to fully utilize Flex

Flash Pros
• More designer efficient for drawing and animation
• Program usability is higher for non-programming related tasks
• Compiled SWF file sizes are optimized since they do not have to include an extra ActionScript library
• Little to no Actionscript 3.0 knoweldege is required to utilize the basic Flash IDE.

Flash Cons
• Poor support for ActionScript programming such as no custom code hinting, only the built in libraries
• Compiler not as fast since it has to recompile the entire SWF for any changes
• No built in support for modular based application architecture