$100 feature test for expert developers
The next version of Flex Builder will include significant investment in what we've been calling "IDE maturity" features. These are features that either build on features introduced in FB3 (e.g. profiler, refactoring, debugging), or new features that are intended to increase the productivity of advanced users. There are certain features that professional developers have come to expect in an IDE and, currently, Flex Builder lacks some of them.
Unfortunately, the list of potential features in this area is long. Really long. Far longer than we can deliver in a single release. So we've been working at prioritizing the list; trying to figure out what of the most critical features we can sign up for in the time we have for the release. We've visited with customers, read the bugbase, scrubbed the forums, and more, but I'd still like to get a bit more data. That's where you come in...
I'd like to invite any existing Flex users to take our IDE maturity "$100 test." This is a feature prioritization exercise that I find very useful. Essentially, you get an imaginary $100 to spend on the development of a set of features. If there's one feature you need above all others, feel free to put all $100 on that one. Otherwise, you might put $25 here and $40 there - just make sure that you add up to a total of $100.
Following is a list of some of the possible features. Take a look and then use the comments (or send me an email) to let me know how you'd spend your $100. You can certainly add your own feature ideas, but bear in mind that 100 little features each give $1 will be less useful.
Sorry for the low-tech implementation of this exercise. If anyone wants to build a nice little $100 test app, feel free! I'll try to find a nice reward for you...
Here goes, and thanks in advance for your input.
- Move & package support in refactoring
- ASDoc in code-hints
- Code indentation
- Code templates
- File templates (override the default MXML application, etc.)
- New HTML wrapper code generated (SWFObject2)
- Improved/additional profiler features
- Improved/additional debugger features
- Package explorer
- Auto generate getters/setters
- Resource module project type
- Conditional compilation (debug only)
So your list might be something like:
- Code indentation - $50
- Package explorer - $25
- Something not listed here - $25
Right? OK, have fun!
New HTML wrapper code generated (SWFObject2) - $30
Linux as a fully supported platform just like Mac and Win, right? Same feature set.
Tim
ASDoc in code-hints $0
Code indentation $50 (for MXML, you'll never beat Oxygen for indenting, but for AS fromatting, I'd give you my right leg)
Code templates $20
File templates (override the default MXML application, etc.) $0
New HTML wrapper code generated (SWFObject2) $50 (although this would be impossible to pull off with SWFObject2 because most of us are adding the code to our header templates. I guess you could export the the code as a sep. JS file..that would work.
Improved/additional profiler features $0
Improved/additional debugger features $100
Package explorer $0
Auto generate getters/setters $100
Resource module project type $0
Conditional compilation (debug only) $0
I landed on "Go"
Tim
Auto generate getters/setters - $50
ASDoc in code-hints $25
God Mode....Priceless
File templates (override the default MXML application, etc.) - $20
Auto generate getters/setters - $10
Improved/additional profiler features - $10
Tighter integration with CF $50
Code intendation $5
Resourse bundles for multilanguage $15
Thermo $15
Thé $5
and Timeline view (Flash) - $100
- ASDoc *creation* inside FB - $10
- Code indentation (full coding style re-formatting, eg. curly-brace style, indenting, tabs vs spaces ) - $30
- Annotations that work - $10
- General stability (we shouldn't have to re-start the IDE three times a day because of memory leaks) - $30
- Linux FB feature parity, esp Design Mode - $20
I'm paying in Canadian dollars, so I get to add $0.02: make some things from the CF plug-in a part of FB core, esp RDS Date View, graphical query builder and AS-to-CFC/Java VO generators/converters. So many non-CFers don't know that these are useful to them.
Cheers,
Oliver
Auto generate getters/setters $30
Code Templates $25
ASDoc in code-hints $10
Auto-generate getters/setters - $45
Move & package support in refactoring - $30
Code indentation - $50
New HTML wrapper code generated (SWFObject2) - $10
Improved/additional debugger features - $15
$30 - Move & package support in refactoring
$20 - ASDoc in code-hints
(plus auto generated for the entire document)
$10 - Code Templates
* Code indenting - $20
* Package explorer - $40
* Improved/additional profiler features - $20
* Tim Buntel - Priceless!
Other than that I like it :)
$80 - Compilation Speed
$15 - Move & package support in refactoring
$5 - Auto-cleanup imports in the MXML just like the AS files (not sure why this wasn't done in FB3)
* Move & package support in refactoring [$30]
* Improved/additional debugger features [$20]
As an aside, I'm not sure what you mean by "code templates", "file templates", or "package explorer" .
I'd love for Jens to expand on his request for "tighter integration with CF".
(first impressions... and lasting ones, more work here would be great for everyone. Perhaps a collection of templates and png files for Fireworks. More than thermo... but thermo also of course)
* Components - 10
(though many things like a calendar, outlook style stuff can be built by us... who has the time? If you guys don't have the time why would we? even if you charged some extra for these tidbits)
* Modules - 10
(make it just a little easier to talk to parent, and nested apps. 3 was close to perfection on this.)
* Libraries (IMAP, FTP, etc, ... OPENID) - 25
(community is the name of the game today and into the future... one BIG issue missing is the ability to connect to things like OpenID)
* FAR better CF Support - 35
Let's face it... the demo of quick wire of CF and Flex is snazzy. It's not enough. There should be things that let us create our own code generation templates for our own type of CFCs, and wire them to AS classes. Transfer is taking off like a rocket... but where is the generator for Flex? What about other companies that might have custom CFC generators. These should be able to be generated from Flex.
* Approachable Framework - 10
(carnigorm is great... but a new developer just isn't going to appreciate singletons and other 'professional' features. Rather than using it, they will abandon it. Or they won't use any framework at all and will abondon it.)
Though your 100 approach is good business logic and your 'professional' jargon approach is considerable... in the end our success is based on the user experience. This would be how much they like the look of our applications, the experience of using our applications and the reliability of the applications.
File templates (override the default MXML application, etc.) $20
New HTML wrapper code generated (SWFObject2) $20
ASDoc in code-hints $10
Better refactoring £40
Mac compilation speed £20
I have had to disable automatic building on my current project,
and I'm not even 1/2 done with it :(
ASDoc in code-hints [$20]
Would be very nice indeed. Currently I spent a lot of time wasted
in the Language Reference.
Move & package support in refactoring [$10]
A minor annoyance at the moment, but complete/proper support
would save a few minutes of cleanup at the end of each refactoring step.
Better Design View [$10]
With some of the more advanced layouts that I piece together
with complex data binding, it would be nice for others on the project
to work with sample/real data in the Design view, for example.
code indenting: $10
FAR better CF Support - 35
Compilation Speed -20
Charts incorporated cf FB2 -25
I would like to add some more to the list:
1. Conditional compilation like #if debug stuff.
2. Unit testing templates in IDE or some plug in to achieve that.
Just my two cents!..
Cheers!
Anupam
1.) More UI Components. ($30). This will make the product useful for developers. If Adobe didn't originally create any components, then this product would have been worthless. Keep up the good work.
2.) More Charting Components. ($10)
3.) Make Printing work : One can't print an entire datagrid (ie., 7000 rows of data). It will time-out/produce errors. :( ($15)
4.) Make all UI components to have drag/drop support (ie., tree control). Please make that drag/drop support easy and well-documented. ($35).
5.) I like the performance of the components, but some areas are slower. ($5)
6.) Make Flex Builder to able to show attributes of a tag when the developer right-clicks the 'tag' ( ie., Dreamweaver ) ($5)
I know I'm over my spending cap.
* Conditional compilation (debug only) - $30
if by this you mean collapsing AS packages like Eclipse does for java in the Resources pane:
* Package explorer - $25
* Auto generate getters/setters - $15
* New HTML wrapper code generated (SWFObject2) - $10
* ASDoc in code-hints - $10
* Move & package support in refactoring - $10
These are too abstract. I like how the Profiler and Debugger work now, but would spend on them if there were concrete features:
* Improved/additional profiler features
* Improved/additional debugger features
We have multiple, large projects (Application and Library Projects in FlexBuilder parlance) and compiling is terrible - 30-40 seconds for a small one line change.
Code indentation = 25
Auto generate getters/setters = 25
Refactoring Extract Method = 25
* Compilation Speed - $50
File templates - $60
TODO task view integration - $10
XML based code gen tools so we can mod them - $25
So, Better refactoring support (extract method, create interface, move): $100
Move & package support in refactoring - $15
* Import organizing in Script Blocks - $5
Improved Refactoring - $20 (move & package)
AMF (BlazeDS) Delegate Generator - $20
Build Speed: $40
Refactoring: $30
Design view: - $50
leaving me $50 to spend on:
File templates: $20
Debugger features: $20
Code indentation: $10
* Indent $30 (specifically auto code formatting throughout)
* Compilation Speed - $50
Ability to filter in code complete (ie: show me everything with the word TEXT in it) $100, plus I'd throw in a extra $100 of my own money. It's not listed in your options, but it's way important and would speed up development.
And if you have time, I'd love to see: New HTML wrapper code generated (SWFObject2)
Thanks!!!
PB
www.datanotion.com
Code indentation for ActionScript $50
VELO
Resource module support including localization $30
Code formatting via template (see java) $10
fcsh integration with Ant tasks $10
$30 * Improved/additional debugger features
$20 * Resource module project type
$20 * Move & package support in refactoring
$10 - ASDoc in code-hints
Code indentation
$20 - Code templates
$20 - File templates (override the default MXML application, etc.)
$20 - New HTML wrapper code generated (SWFObject2)
Improved/additional profiler features
Improved/additional debugger features
Package explorer
$10 - Auto generate getters/setters
Resource module project type
Conditional compilation (debug only)
$10 - ASDoc in code-hints
$30 - A pure AS3 compiler, that can embed assets and generate frames,
but does not use anything of the Flex Framework.
$40 - MXML being seperated conceptionally from the Flex framework.
Means, you could build an application with only your own classes using
MXML.
ASDoc in code-hints
Code indentation 20
Code templates 10
File templates (override the default MXML application, etc.) 5
New HTML wrapper code generated (SWFObject2)
Improved/additional profiler features
Improved/additional debugger features 5
Package explorer
Auto generate getters/setters 30
Resource module project type
Conditional compilation (debug only)
Quick fixes (not in list) - $50
And no need get/set generators: advanced code templates rules!
Rich Text Editor features for text on the STAGE at Design time - $25
# Improved/additional debugger features -£40
split the change between the rest. ( i want them ALL tho) ;=)
cheer
glenn
tinylion development uk
flex-ria.com
ASDoc in code-hints - $10
Code templates - $10
File templates (override the default MXML application, etc.) -$ 10
New HTML wrapper code generated (SWFObject2) - $10
Package explorer - $30
Auto generate getters/setters - $15
Move and package support $50
Auto-generate getters and setters $50
They're such a pain to code ;)
better contextual intellisense: $75 ( as in open up visual studio, write some c#, and notice how there's a popup on almost every key stroke and 99% of the time it knows what you're gonna type )
$13 Wizzo new blingy components.
$10 Better code completion.
$5 Approachable framework to supersede Cairngorm et al.
$1 Rockstar sample apps as starting points for entire solutions (e.g. Flex Wiki in a Box).
$1 Generics.