Making a Flex Framework Choice

Making your choice

Although by no means exhaustive, the information provided here in combination with the resources should be enough for a basic understanding of the methodologies, strengths, and weaknesses of each framework. So, how do you go about choosing one of these frameworks over another?

Perhaps the first question to ask is, do I need one? Flex and MXML provide a very robust methodology for rapidly building applications. The reason I held off so long on using a framework is that it seemed to me that it would require more work to adapt what I was trying to do to fit the framework’s methodology than just using the Flex framework. To me, a framework should be something that makes tasks easier and increases productivity—not something I use just because I can or because I think it makes me a better developer for doing so.

That said, in one of the phone interviews I mentioned at the beginning of this article, after giving my explanation of why I had chosen not to use a framework, the interviewer responded, “I have to work in a large team. Surely you can see that I need some sort of framework.” After giving it some thought, I do see what he means.

One of the benefits of using a framework is that it standardizes how things are coded. In other words, if programmer A and programmer B are working on two parts of the same project using the same framework, you can be pretty sure that the code they write is compatible. So perhaps another question you need to ask yourself is, how much structure do you want imposed?

The frameworks examined here vary a great deal in how much predefined structure they require. If you’re working with a large team, you may want more structure imposed than if you’re working on a project by yourself. It may be that the hit you take on production time and project size creating all the classes necessary for one of the more structured frameworks is offset by facilitation of a team work environment and the code consistency that the predefined structure provides. In contrast, if you’re the only developer working on a project and you just need something to make life easier and speed up development, then perhaps you want to go with one of the frameworks that doesn’t impose as much structure on your project.

So, it would seem that choosing the right framework—or choosing not to use a framework at all—is really a function of the goals of the developer and the environment in which the project will be created. The best advice I can give is to be honest with yourself about what you and the project require. I know that after doing my research and writing this article, I am much more open to the idea of frameworks, and I see that they do fulfill certain needs.