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Industry Perspectives

Aral Balkan
BDFL, OSFlash.org

WebDDJ: What is OSFlash?

Aral Balkan: OSFlash is home of the Open Source Flash community. It is a watering hole for open source developers to meet, talk about, and contribute to new and existing open source projects for the Flash Platform.

Is OSFlash a Website or is it an initiative?

AB: It's an initiative, a closely knit community, a resource, and a platform. I see my own role as enabler, providing the tools and resources that our amazing community of developers can use to weave their magic. Most of the time, I just sit back and gaze agape at the virtual sparks of creativity that fly across the vast ether of the Internet only to materialize in exciting new projects, usually within a matter of weeks or months. It is truly an honor to be in the midst of such creative talent.

How do you see the OSFlash / Macromedia (Adobe) relationship?

AB: OSFlash and Macromedia have a symbiotic relationship. The existence of a strong, active Open Source Flash community is a primary legitimizing factor for the Flash Platform. We both believe that the Flash Platform holds amazing promise in the age of Web 2.0 and we are both passionate about seeing the Flash Platform succeed, both today and long into the future.

Why do you write open source software?

AB: Because it is fun! Because there is no bureaucracy involved. Because what you write is immediately useful, both to yourself and to others (it scratches an itch). Because you can see it grow beyond what you could have imagined for it yourself. Because it can help others.

Nicolas Cannasse
Author of MTASC

WebDDJ:  What is MTASC?

NC: MTASC is an open source Actionscript 2 compiler.

What made you decide to invest your time in MTASC?

NC: Well, MTASC is not only a personal project; it's sponsored by my company. We've been using open source tools like PHP and MySQL for years now, and we were able to start a company and do business because these tools were free. It might not have been possible to start our company if we had the expense of licensing commercial software. So, after a few years, we decided it was time to give back to the community and allow other people to do these things using Flash.

Do open source tools like MTASC broaden the reach of the Flash Platform?

NC: I think so. A lot of people are coming and try to use Flash, but they can't because the Flash IDE is not available on Linux. There are a lot of people who are interested in Flash but haven't been able to use it. Now, they can use Flash with open source tools. I think MTASC is popular because it addresses something that was missing. When you have a lot of libraries and source code, you need a fast compiler that supports your workflow.

What about Flex Builder 2 and ActionScript 3? Will MTASC support ActionScript 3?

NC: I won't support Actionscript 3 in MTASC. I'm currently working on another project called haXe which opens a lot of new possibilities. haXe allows you to use the same language everywhere: for Flash, for the server side, and for JavaScript.

Darron Schall
Application Developer, DarronSchall.com

WebDDJ: What is the one open source Flash project that all Flash developers should be aware of?

DS: I would say that there are two right now. MTASC is obviously the biggest one as it allows developers to compile to SWF without the need to purchase the Flash IDE. MTASC fits the "traditional" developer workflow better than the Flash IDE, allowing programmers to write code in text files and invoke a command-line compiler to spit out a binary.

The other is Red5. This is an open source alternative to Flash Communication Server (now Flash Media Server) that has really made some great strides in the past month. The speed at which the project was organized to when it was "usable" was pretty incredible. It goes to show that when like-minded people focus with a task at hand, much can be accomplished.

What does the open source Flash community have to offer to developers who are not currently building Flash applications?

DS: The Flash Platform offers a "write once run anywhere" model that actually works! Java proclaimed this, but we all know how fast it turned into "write once debug everywhere." Seriously, Flash is everywhere and it's only going to continue growing. Flash is not only cross-platform, but cross-device, ranging from video game consoles to mobile phones to interfaces on digital cameras to running the interface in the new Jaguar XK. The open source community gives developers a compiler in MTASC, a resource injector in Swfmill, and an editor in ASDT to allow for deployment on the Flash Platform. I think these are the key projects in winning developers from other languages.

Why is open source important to the Flash Platform?

DS: Oddly enough, it seems most of my "open source Flash" projects fall in the tools category and were created in Java. I've always been jealous at the amount of tools available for other languages and have tried to re-create some of these same tools for ActionScript. Having a good toolset makes it easier for developers to switch, and the more developers using Flash, the better it is for all of us.

Word about Flash is getting out, and in a big way. The new version of Enterprise Architect (version 6) supports Forward and Reverse Code Engineering of ActionScript 2.0. This is huge. It finally puts ActionScript 2.0 on the same level as Java and C#, something I've been trying to push for a long time.

Alistair McLeod
RIA Practice Director (EMEA), Macromedia
Formerly Technical Director at iteration::two

WebDDJ:  What are Cairngorm and FlexUnit?

AM: Our architectural framework, Cairngorm, is based upon the design patterns used by Java enterprise developers and this makes it much easier for Java developers to reach across the divide into the Flash platform. We have already seen substantial evidence from clients that this framework has made it much easier for their enterprise Java developers to start working with Flex.

Likewise, Java developers are used to unit testing with JUnit. With FlexUnit available to them, they can make themselves at home almost immediately in the Flex environment.

With these two projects, we have found that we can get Java developers up to speed in our consultancy in a matter of weeks, rather than the months it might have taken.

Why are open source projects like Cairngorm and FlexUnit import to the Flash Platform?

AM: With the repositioning of Flash as a delivery platform for enterprise grade applications, developers are becoming used to having access to architectural frameworks such as Cairngorm and unit testing frameworks such as Flex Unit. The community has been able to quickly fill the gaps between the tools provided by Macromedia and, in doing so, Macromedia has been able to entice more software developers to their platform.

iteration::two was recently acquired by Macromedia and is now Macromedia Consulting. Will that change the role of open source in your organization?

AM: All the consultants we have are passionate about software development, and understand the benefits of open source software. However, we're still finding our feet as Macromedia Consulting, so it's too early to tell.

We can announce, however, that FlexUnit is currently being converted for use with Flex 2 and will be hosted on Macromedia Labs in the near future to work alongside the Flex 2 release that is now in public alpha.