Boston Flex User Group

Duane Nickull on Building Service Clients with Flex 4 (FB4)

Read the writeup of this event at http://www.irahochman.com/content/bostonfug-may-duane-nickull-service-clients-flex-4-flash-builder.

This is a hands-on coding session. Duane Nickull will take us through the ins and outs of Building Service clients with the latest Flex SDKs.

Bring your laptop!

Coverage includes the following types of service clients:

• simple html client
• http client
• web services client
• basic AMF clients (RemoteObject)
• basic PHP client
• advanced PHP client with Data paging enabled
• Model driven development with LC DS 3

We will also have a software drawing at this event.

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Duane Nickull works as a senior technical evangelist for Adobe Systems, Inc. The main focus of his professional career (http://www.nickull.net) has been to work for both the United Nations CEFACT committee and OASIS for the purposes of writing and building new architectures for global integration of multiple systems.

Since 1996, he has worked on multiple enterprise architectures including many service oriented architectures (SOA) within various standards bodies including W3C, UN/CEFACT, OASIS and others. He has also contributed to many SOA papers and articles on service oriented architecture. His focus has shifted towards many web service standards in recent years.

He has worked on many other interesting technologies including the first contextual XML Search Engine, an Alternative fuel hydrogen project and the new UN/CEFACT eBusiness Architecture and related technologies.

He is also a self-described lifelong musician, cynic, traveler, athlete, author and first class antagonist who exclaims that "Punk lives through ideas and actions, not looks."

Chris Allen on Brass Monkey, Seriously Fun Control

Writeup of the event can be found at http://www.irahochman.com/content/bostonfug-april-writeup-chris-allen-brassmonkey-wifi-game-controller

Infrared5 President and CEO, Chris Allen will show their new cutting edge Brass Monkey SDK for creating cross platform experiences. Brass Monkey is at its core a networking library for interconnecting mobile devices and computers over a local WIFI. Brass Monkey's primary use is as a controller, where a mobile device, say an iPhone, uses its built in controls like an accelerometer to communicate to a web based experience (Flash/Flex, Unity3D). Chris will show how to use the SDK, and demonstrate many of the possibilities this new technology opens up to developers.

Presenter: Mr. Chris Allen Chris Allen is president and CEO of Infrared5 and is co-project manager and a Java developer for the open source Red5 project. He has extensive experience developing for the Flash platform and java. In addition to his heavy involvement and leadership in the open source Flash community, he has been a software architect and developer for major enterprises including Cambridge Technology Partners, Mass General Hospital and Scholastic.

Dan Rinehart on AIR 2.0

At this talk Daniel Rinehart will discuss his experiences and insights into developing for the 2.0 release of the Adobe AIR player. Daniel is known for his programming and architectural skill and his talk will be dense with worthwhile nuggets.

Daniel Rinehart is a software architect at Allurent, where he is helping to build a new generation of innovative online shopping experiences using Flex. He has worked in the field of software development as an engineer and architect for the past eight years. Prior to joining Allurent, Daniel worked at Ruckus Network, Towers Perrin, and BiT Group. While at BiT Group he worked for clients, including Cisco and Dell Financial Services, among others. He can be reached online at http://danielr.neophi.com.

Libby Freligh on This Business of Flex

This talk is a departure from our usual technical focus, and we think it will be an especially exciting one. Our speaker, Libby Freligh, was a key player in the original definition, creation and launch of the Macromedia Flex platform, and our talk will take a fascinating look at the genesis of the platform from a business and product management angle, as well as a look at the present and the future.

Libby will start with a perspective on the early history of Flex platform, discussing how Flex evolved from an initial concept into the major force in RIA development that it is today. The rest of the talk will provide a business perspective on current RIA development, looking at how the landscape has evolved and how Flex and other platforms have essentially changed the terms of how software gets built now. Libby will also talk about her experience since Macromedia in designing and developing RIA products that successfully address the online market.

Libby Freligh is a passionate, customer-focused business and product development manager with 17 years experience in the software industry. Her work revolves around business results, new market development, customer-centered product development and an intense enthusiasm for exciting technology and engineering. She was Senior Product Manager for the Flex platform at the time of its launch by Macromedia. After that, Libby worked developing the European market for Brightcove, and most recently was VP of Products for Internet Broadcasting Corporation.

Jeffry Houser, creator of Flextras

Jeffry Houser,creator of Flextras, will walk through the process of optimizing a Flex component for re-use by other developers. He will discuss the component lifecycle, metadata, ASDocs, custom styles and events, and other very useful things.

Jeffry Houser is the creator of Flextras, a set of interface Flex Components that save you time and help you create better Flex interfaces. He has a Computer Science degree from the days before business met the Internet and has solved a problem or two in his programming career. In 1999, Jeffry started DotComIt, an Adobe Solutions Partner specializing in Rich Internet Applications with Flex and ColdFusion.

Jeffry is an Adobe Community Expert and produces The Flex Show, a podcast that includes expert interviews and screencast tutorials. He also hosts the Flextras Friday Lunch Podcast, a weekly live Q&A session where you can get your questions answered. Jeffry has spoken at user groups and conferences all over the US, is the co-manager of the Hartford CT Adobe User Group, author of three technical books, and over 30 articles.