Beginning Flash

You can use the Flex SDK which is free.

 

Are you asking about designing in Flash or writing actionscript?

If you just want to simply design using flash, there is no alternative unfortunately.

If you want to write actionscript, there are plenty of free tools for that, though there are no free compliers that I know of, with the possible exception of the Flex SDK, though I've never tried before using just the SDK; I've always compiled under Flex Builder.

You can write actionscript in any text editor, just remember to save it as a ".as" file. If you happen to be a student, you can get Flex Builder 3 for free.

 

? I know, but are you simply looking to use the program to design, or use Actionscript, which is the programing language of Flash, to make things?


As to your other question,
I guess you could look at Flex as an offset of Flash thats more data-centric, meaning that the larger overall focus is not aesthetics, but moreso functionality.

Another difference is that Flex apps can be brought offline, and installed on a user's computer.

Flex also has its own language and programming patterns.

There are alot of differences for me to go over, just do a search for more info. There is plenty of information out there as well as tutorials showing the differences.

I'm sure that theres someone out there that can provide a better explanation than I can, I don't use Flex all that much, so I can't say I'm qualified to really talk about it.

 

Flash:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Flash

Flex:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Flex

And remember, Wikipedia articles contain links to other articles, as well as to the primary sources, e.g. the Adobe websites dedicated to Flash or Flex.

Also see this MacRumors thread:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=800352

 

I didn't know actionscript was the language of flash; how cool. I'm guessing it's pretty complex.
So would the 'kings' of development build their flash content by action script thus eradicating the need for the user to not need flash?

 

I think that most people, at the very least, use the program to make elements for their project, then use code to tie things together. Even though you could make a whole thing entirely out of code, I think there is still a level of convenience in building things in a GUI first, then making the "plumbing" using code.

 

I'm only going to answer your first question, since chown already posted links which you could have looked over to get all your answers.


-Yes, as long as the program is compiled for Flash Player and not Air, it would still work.

 

yes. One of the great strengths of learning to code in AS3 is you no longer become reliant on the flash timeline or the flash library... the timeline is great for fixed animations, but in a world of real-time data one needs to get away from such concepts to create work that is truly interactive.

Most of the professional actionscript programmers I work with program in Flex or a similar style code editor.