When I first started using Flex Builder, I thought the long build times were just a configuration problem on my computer. But the more that I worked with other developers, the more I realized that it as a common problem. I can experience a thirty second compile time on an incremental compile and I’ve waited over four minutes for a clean compile. That’s ridiculous.
I’m surprised to see how many people have used Flex Builder exclusively. Some people don’t even realize there’s a command line compiler (mxmlc) and a command line debugger (fdb) out there. While those utilities can also be difficult and slow to use, there are two other options available:
FCSH works much like the command line compiler (mxmlc) except that it will cache the Flex JAR files and perform incremental builds. While the compiler shell provides a quick way to compile from the command line, there is an even easier way to work with Flex than that.
The Flex module, in my opinion, makes Flex enjoyable to work with. It allows you to compile an MXML file simply by navigating to it in your web browser. It is quick and lightweight and probably the single most helpful utility when it comes to Flex development. You can download the module from Adobe Labs and install it on your web server. There is also an IIS module available.
The Flex module will compile within seconds which allows me to focus more time on actually developing. Every second counts when you’re compiling a hundred times per day. In addition to the extra wait time, I find that I try to make numerous changes per build so that I can minimize the number of times I have to wait for Flex Builder. But by doing that, I can easily introduce bugs into my code because I have so many separate changes to manage.
NOTE: The Flex module is only meant for development purposes. Please do not use it in production. You can use an ANT build script for building your production SWF files.
