{ "attachments": [], "comments_archived": true, "date": "2003-04-22T16:22:50.000Z", "layout": "post", "title": "Learning How to Do Magic with Flash and XML", "wordpress_id": 408, "wordpress_slug": "flash-xml-magic", "wordpress_url": "http://www.decafbad.com/blog/?p=408", "year": "2003", "month": "04", "day": "22", "isDir": false, "slug": "flash-xml-magic", "type": "entry", "postName": "2003-04-22-flash-xml-magic", "html": "

Was thinking about learning new tech, and well, I haven't gotten much\nfarther into .NET\nas I'd wanted to,\ngiven moving and a sudden appearance of work. Instead, I've had\na project hurled at me that combines Flash MX and XML, something I've\njust barely touched before.

\n

Wow, is this stuff fun. And I write that without a trace of sarcasm--\nthis app I've inherited for maintenance and extension, though it's a\nbit grungy and shows some signs of late-night expediency, does some\nneat things with actions and buttons dynamically wired up in response\nto XML config files loaded via URL, which are in turn generated from a\ndatabase managed by a simple end-user admin interface. Not sure how\nmuch more I should write about it, but I'm dying to post a link. Of\ncourse, this isn't revolutionary stuff in general. It's just a revelation\nto me.

\n

The last time I had an opportunity to really, really dig around in\nFlash was just about when Flash 5 came out. I was immersed daily in\nFlash in the years between the initial acquisition by Macromedia, up\nthrough version 4, and just started drifting away, sadly, when things\nstarted getting really interesting with v5. That was when my daily\njob swung entirely into the backend, and client-side concerns were\nno longer my task.

\n

But now I'm back in this old neighborhood, and I can see why some\npeople would love nothing better but to build entire websites in\nFlash. Yeah, that's evil, but it's sexy. Despite some clunkiness,\nthere are some very nice possibilities I see now. I love Java, and\nloved cobbling together funky applets 5 years or so ago, but Flash\nmakes me want to toy with rich client-side apps again.

\n

And then, there's this\nSony Clie PEG-TG50\nhandheld I've recently started pining for, and it appears to run a\nFlash 5 player. It's probably underwhelming, but who knows?

\n

Anyway, back to work, but just had to spill some enthusiasm for\nFlash.

\n\n\n\n

shortname=flash_xml_magic

\n

Archived Comments

\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n", "body": "Was thinking about learning new tech, and well, I haven't gotten much\r\nfarther into .NET\r\nas I'd wanted to,\r\ngiven moving and a sudden appearance of work. Instead, I've had\r\na project hurled at me that combines Flash MX and XML, something I've\r\njust barely touched before.\r\n

\r\nWow, is this stuff fun. And I write that without a trace of sarcasm--\r\nthis app I've inherited for maintenance and extension, though it's a\r\nbit grungy and shows some signs of late-night expediency, does some\r\nneat things with actions and buttons dynamically wired up in response\r\nto XML config files loaded via URL, which are in turn generated from a\r\ndatabase managed by a simple end-user admin interface. Not sure how\r\nmuch more I should write about it, but I'm dying to post a link. Of\r\ncourse, this isn't revolutionary stuff in general. It's just a revelation\r\nto me.\r\n

\r\nThe last time I had an opportunity to really, really dig around in\r\nFlash was just about when Flash 5 came out. I was immersed daily in\r\nFlash in the years between the initial acquisition by Macromedia, up\r\nthrough version 4, and just started drifting away, sadly, when things\r\nstarted getting really interesting with v5. That was when my daily\r\njob swung entirely into the backend, and client-side concerns were\r\nno longer my task.\r\n

\r\nBut now I'm back in this old neighborhood, and I can see why some\r\npeople would love nothing better but to build entire websites in\r\nFlash. Yeah, that's evil, but it's sexy. Despite some clunkiness,\r\nthere are some very nice possibilities I see now. I love Java, and\r\nloved cobbling together funky applets 5 years or so ago, but Flash\r\nmakes me want to toy with rich client-side apps again.\r\n

\r\nAnd then, there's this\r\nSony Clie PEG-TG50\r\nhandheld I've recently started pining for, and it appears to run a\r\nFlash 5 player. It's probably underwhelming, but who knows?\r\n

\r\nAnyway, back to work, but just had to spill some enthusiasm for\r\nFlash.\r\n\r\nshortname=flash_xml_magic\r\n\r\n
\r\n

Archived Comments

\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n
\r\n ", "parentPath": "./content/posts/archives/2003", "path": "2003/04/22/flash-xml-magic", "summary": "Was thinking about learning new tech, and well, I haven't gotten much\nfarther into .NET\nas I'd wanted to,\ngiven moving and a sudden appearance of work. Instead, I've had\na project hurled at me that combines Flash MX and XML, something I've\njust barely touched before.\nWow, is this stuff fun. And I write that without a trace of sarcasm--\nthis app I've inherited for maintenance and extension, though it's a\nbit grungy and shows some signs of late-night expediency, does some\nneat things with actions and buttons dynamically wired up in response\nto XML config files loaded via URL, which are in turn generated from a\ndatabase managed by a simple end-user admin interface. Not sure how\nmuch more I should write about it, but I'm dying to post a link. Of\ncourse, this isn't revolutionary stuff in general. It's just a revelation\nto me.\nThe last time I had an opportunity to really, really dig around in\nFlash was just about when Flash 5 came out. I was immersed daily in\nFlash in the years between the initial acquisition by Macromedia, up\nthrough version 4, and just started drifting away, sadly, when things\nstarted getting really interesting with v5. That was when my daily\njob swung entirely into the backend, and client-side concerns were\nno longer my task.\nBut now I'm back in this old neighborhood, and I can see why some\npeople would love nothing better but to build entire websites in\nFlash. Yeah, that's evil, but it's sexy. Despite some clunkiness,\nthere are some very nice possibilities I see now. I love Java, and\nloved cobbling together funky applets 5 years or so ago, but Flash\nmakes me want to toy with rich client-side apps again.\nAnd then, there's this\nSony Clie PEG-TG50\nhandheld I've recently started pining for, and it appears to run a\nFlash 5 player. It's probably underwhelming, but who knows?\nAnyway, back to work, but just had to spill some enthusiasm for\nFlash.", "needsBuild": true, "prevPostPath": "2003/04/22/shitstorms-abound-2", "prevPostTitle": "Do NOT Taunt the Happy Fun Dave", "nextPostPath": "2003/04/22/wonders-of-rsync", "nextPostTitle": "rsync: It's a damn brilliant thing." }