The Flash – Flex – Flash Cycle: Builder ConFusion

With the Flash Platform, the recent naming overhaul is not actually surprising – that got its share of attention back in 2008, right after a branding shift with a particular focus on Flash became obvious. While not exactly a bombshell, this piece of news managed to evoke a pretty strong reaction, demonstrated mostly (and close to exclusively) by Flex developers. Apparently, the opportunities for the Flex camp to distance themselves from the formerly fishy Flash (oh the lovely sample of alliteration) are becoming increasingly limited.

Although the Flex Builder to Flash Builder rename is somewhat stale news, if you will, I can’t see water ripples within the Flex community leveled off. Renames always turn out painful – part of the discomfort emerges out of inertia, while perhaps another part is built out of resentment, but what is clear now is that both those hailing the change (or at least able to trace the logic behind it) and those yet reluctant to do so agree that there is some confusion to follow. Even now, with the new products still betas, it feels weird reading things like “Flex 4 is included in Flash builder”. Just figure explaining the nuances to an unsuspecting customer…

What referred me back to this topic is a recent Flex Show roundtable, during which savvy Flex folks voice their opinions on the matter, revealing a couple of ideas of interest. The overall sentiment seems to fall into the “it’s a shame, but there’s nothing really that can be done about it” range. However, there’s more than just attitude expressed: a couple of shady zones likely to cause most of the confusion are referred to, one of which is in relation to Flash CS4 Professional.

The official Adobe take on it is that the rename allows for “better naming consistency for the Flash family of tools”. One of the lines to be traced here is the argument that since the outcome of using Flex Builder is a SWF file to be run with Flash Player, why not include the Flash component in the tool name. Second, there is an issue of two somewhat contradictory moves of making a distinction between the open-source and the enterprise and simultaneously pulling the Flash name into the spotlight by erasing past negative (if presently completely ungrounded) connotations, although Adobe will apparently continue to promote the Flex framework and encourage its usage (you bet). And then again, it can be a purely marketing move accounted for by both greater Flash recognizability and the Silverlight rivalry.

By and large, nothing has essentially changed – Flash Builder will be the same developer-oriented tool, with additional features, too. That doesn’t annihilate some bitterness though – the Flex camp as opposed to the generally “less professional” Flash camp feel themselves robbed of part of their legitimate territory. No one will seriously consider the rename a full-fledged reason to opt out of the Flex framework, but it’s probably the beginners who will face the bulk of difficulties in getting to know the lay of the land in Adobe Flash/Flex.