Robert and I built this Flex app in two weeks: www.searchcoders.com/flex, then we converted it to an Apollo app in about 5 minutes, then we spent about 5 weeks getting to this point: the SearchCoders/Dashboard (screencast). Easy.
So, why is it hard to go from Apollo back to Flex? First, using a crappy HTML frame to display message content and blog posts in our Flex app is just so 1997. Being able to integrate HTML directly into our app is an Apollo feature that you’d have to pry from our cold, dead hands. And we’re not about to resort to hacks to display HTML in a div on top of our app, especially since we use Safari. Second, I can’t imagine giving up chromeless windows. The browser’s chrome and UI become largely irrelevant in the context of an RIA. In fact, the back button becomes downright problematic. So why would I want to go back to browser-based Flex when I can have so much more control in Apollo?
May 21st, 2007 at 8:32 pm
I agree but it doesn’t have to be. You are using Safari? I think that the latest version of Webkit has the bug fixes for displaying a div or iframe on top of your app. IE 6, 7 and FF 2 on the pc are much more stable than they were in the past and some of the major bugs have been fixed.
I agree its not perfect yet but we have got a lot closer. Check out http://www.judahfrangipane.com/blog/?p=104. And if it doesn’t meet your needs post comments.
May 24th, 2007 at 9:34 am
[…] reading Tom Bray’s blog posts about the new Apollo application he has been working on called SearchCoders/Dashboard, I decided to […]