Attest Review

Couple of days back I came to know about an AIR application which helps you prepare for Flex Certification. It’s called Attest. The app is free for personal use and I think it’s a great help for anyone who is serious about preparing for Flex Certification.

I have downloaded it and checked it out. More details about the app are below:

Application site: http://software.pxldesigns.com/attest/

or go to Download Page directly

I think David and Holly did a great job with this app.

Day # 3 – Introduction to ActionScript – Part 1

• ActionScript 3.0 is compliant with ECMA-262 specification & leverages parts of ECMAScript edition 4 spec
• There are 3 tiers of ActionScript APIs

• Ways ActionScript could be used in Flex

1. Inline within MXML tags
2. Nested within MXML tags
3. In MXML scripts
4. Within ActionScript classes

• Since ActionScript may use special characters otherwise interpreted by MXML compiler, we use CDATA block

	<mx:Script>
		<![CDATA [
		-----
		- - - - 
		]]>
	</mx:Script>

• ActionScript class files are text files that use the file extension .as
• MXML gets converted into ActionScript during compilation
• MXML tag === equivalent to === creating a component instance.

	<mx:Button id="button"/> === var button:Button = new Button();

• MXML component tags correspond to ActionScript classes
• MXML document themselves are essentially ActionScript classes
• An Application document is a class that extends mx.core.Application
• Code within MXML script === placing code in the class body
• Variable declaration within MXML scripts === properties of class
• Function within MXML scripts === methods of class
• Packages groups together classes so that you can ensure uniqueness of scope.

• ActionScript allows you to reference a class by the shorthand notation if you first add an import statement
• ActionScript class consists of -

Class Package declaration
Class declaration

• Each ActionScript class must be defined in it’s own file.
• Name of the file should be same as class name
• A package name in ActionScript corresponds to the directory structure within which the file is stored
• Class names start with a capital letter by ‘Convention’
• It’s possible to declare a variable without a datatype. (Remember Javascript?)
• Flex applications provide both runtime & compile time type checking
• Variables defined within a function inside a class are ONLY available within the function
• Variables defined in a  class but outside any functions become properties of that class. They are available throughout the class
• Access Modifiers

• In addition to this we also have ’static’ modifier which says that a property is directly accessible from the class rather than the instances.

Day # 2 – Introduction to Flex – Part 2 – Primer on MXML

• In this post we will take a brief look at MXML.
• MXML is a declarative language to create UI for Flex applications.
• MXML can only appear in a MXML Document
• A MXML document could be of 2 types:

1. MXML Application – the root node is ‘Application’
2. MXML Component – the root node is any other standard Flex Component.

• There is a XML declaration on every MXML document.

<? xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″ ?>

• XML declaration is NOT strictly required by Flex compiler, but is included for well formed-ness.
• All Flex applications must have one MXML application document.
• Namespaces are used to group elements, Flex libraries.
• The entire Flex framework is written in ActionScript classes and bunch of MXML component documents that are stored in external libraries within .swc
• Namespace maps a tag(used in a MXML document) to a ActionScript Class or MXML Component

Namespaces explained visually.

• Categories of Flex Components

• How do we set component properties?

• There are 2 ways you add interactivity to MXML

1. Adding event handling code
2. Adding data binding code

Flex 3 Exam Details

Adobe has release more derails about Flex 3 certification. Now it has added Adobe AIR to the certification. Here are some details:

Q. What is the certification exam called?
A. Adobe Flex 3 with AIR, Exam # 9A0-082

Q. What will the exam consist?
A. It will contain 50 questions and you need to get about 34 (67%) of them right to pass.

Topic Areas and Objectives:

1. Creating a User Interface (UI)

• Identify and describe the basic UI controls used in a Flex application.
• Identify the purpose of UI containers and when to use them.
• Change the look and feel of a design by using API styles, style sheets, filters, and blends.
• Dynamically change the look of an application by using view states, transitions and effects.
• Position UI elements by using constraint-based layout.
• Position UI elements by using enhanced constraints.
• Implement application navigation by using navigator containers.
• Customize list-based controls.

2. Flex system architecture and design

• Create and use custom components.
• Transfer data between components by using data bindings.
• Create, handle, and dispatch custom events.
• Handle framework events.
• List and describe the differences between model, view, and controller code in a Flex application.

3. Programming Flex Applications with ActionScript

• Define and extend an ActionScript class.
• Implement an ActionScript interface.
• Use access modifiers with classes and class members
• Under the pupose of and implement data transfer objects.
• Implement accessor methods in ActionScript.
• Use an ArrayCollection to sort, filter, and provide data.
• Implement data validation.
• Manipulate XML data using E4X.

4. Interacting with datasources and servers

• Implement simple LiveCycle Data Services (LCDS) messaging and data management.
• Create, connect to, and define a local database.
• Add, update, and remove records from local database.
• Interact with remote data and services by using Remote Procedure Call (RPC) services.
• Upload files to a server.

5. Using Flex in the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR)

• Given a scenario, compile and export a release build of an AIR application.
• Create, populate, and delete files and directories on a local file system.
• Create and customize native windows and menus.
• Adding drag-and-drop functionality to and from the desktop.
• Install, uninstall, and update an AIR application.
• List and describe the AIR security contexts.

You can find more details on ADC

Day # 2 – Introduction to Flex – Part 1

I am not going to write verbose paragraphs here. If you want more detailed explanation on things please refer to any of the books listed here. Since we are preparing for a certification, the whole learning is going to be in knowledge bites. What you do with these is totally up to you. As usual I am very much open to comments, suggestions – please direct them to flexcertification@gmail.com.

• Flex leverages existing technologies like – XML, Web Services, Flash Player, Actionscript
• You build Flex applications by assembling pre-built, off the shelf components which include
  • UI Controls
  • Layout Containers
  • Data Models
  • Data Communication Components
• Flex uses Flash player runtime.
• Flex applications run on Flash player 9 or above

• 

  Flex Application Compile Path

• Flex Framework is synonymous to “Flex Class Library” which is a collection of Actionscript Classes. This class library defines:
  • Controls
  • Containers
  • Managers
• Flex Class Library Categories include:
  • Form Controls
  • Menu Controls
  • Media Components
  • Layout Containers
  • Data Components & Data Binding
  • Formatters and Validators
  • Cursor Management
  • State Management
  • Effects
  • History Management
  • Drag and Drop Management
  • Tool Tips
  • Style Management
• Form Controls use Data Models & Connectors to talk to Server. This is generally called Data Binding
  

  Data Binding

• Flex Builder 2(now 3) is the official Adobe IDE. You can build Flex applications without it too, just use Flex SDK.
• Integrating with Data Services: Flash Player can talk to data from Server in 4 different formats.
  1. Text
  2. XML
  3. AMF (ActionScript Message Format) – A binary format
  4. Persistent Socket Connection
• Flex Elements:
  

  Flex Elements

• MXML is an XML based UI language of Flex
• MXML primarily describes screen layout
• MXML documents get compiled in several steps
  

  MXML Compilation process

• ActionScript is needed for events and Mouse clicks (MXML can’t do it)
• ActionScript is natively supported by Flash Player
  

  Flex & Flash Packages

• Flex applications can call methods of classes on server using a technology called Flash Remoting
• Flash remoting use AMF as a message format
• Flex Data Services provide support to Flash remoting
• Other Opensource options are OpemAMF, AMFPhp. Complete list here.

Day # 1 – Preparation – Part 2

In part 2 we will discuss our plan and syllabus we will cover here for the certification. There are 4 areas for certification:

1. Flex Application User Interface Creation
2. Flex System Architecture and Design
3. Flex Application Programming Fundamentals
4. Flex Applications and Remote Data

In this course I am going to club 1 & 3 as a track and 2 & 4 as another track. The following syllabus will cover 90% of the requirements for the exam. There are going to be exceptions and I might miss some topics – in that case please send me an email at: flexcertification@gmail.com

These tracks will proceed simultaneously for the next 40 days. The last 10 days would be specifically dedicated to exam questions.

Below is the tracks structure and I will keep adding stuff as we go on.

Track # 1 – Flex Programming & UI

1. Introduction to Adobe Flex 2

Track # 2 – Flex System Architecture & Data Services

1. Flex System Architecture
2. Flex Data Services

Day # 1 – Preparation – Part 1

(Update: Adobe has released Flex 3 and there will be a Flex 3 certification soon. This blog will exclusively target Flex 2 until the Flex 3 certification details are released – which is Jan 2009)

(Update 2: Adobe has released more details about Flex 3 exam, it’s covered in this post)

Here we go, let’s get the basics right. The data about certification is spread out across Adobe’s website. I am getting all the requisite info for my certification here. To make it easier, I am making it a question & answer mode.

Q: What Certifications are available from Adobe?
A:
Adobe Certified Expert
Adobe Certified Professional
Adobe Certified Associate
Adobe Certified Instructor
It could be a little confusing, as the website says it’s a ACP exam for Flex 2 but the PDF you download says ACE exam for Flex2. Just remember the exam name.

Q: What is the Certification Path?
A: Here is a visual

Certification Path

Q: What is the Flex certification exam called?
A: Adobe Flex 2 Developer Exam

Q: What will the exam consist?
A: It will consist of 65 multiple-choice questions. The exam duration might be between 1 to 2 hours. I am not sure how many you need to get right to pass the certification.

Q: Exam Fees?
A: 150$ as of date.

Q: What are Adobe Flex 2 Topic areas & Objectives of the exam?
A:

Following is a detailed outline of the information covered on the ACE Exam.

1. Flex Application User Interface (UI) Creation

• Identify and describe the basic UI controls used in a Flex application.
• Identify the purpose of UI containers and when to use them.
• Identify how to change the look and feel of a design by using API styles and style sheets.
• Recognize how to customize changes, control-related presentation layouts and navigation in an application by using view states, and using transitions and effects.

2. Flex System Architecture and Design

• Recognize how UML and Use Cases are used in object-oriented design.
• Identify the relationship of design patterns with respect to system architecture.
• Recognize and describe event-based programming model in events.
• Identify how to build loosely-coupled components.
• Recognize how Inheritance, Encapsulation, and Polymorphism works.
• Recognize the structure of a J2EE architecture.

3. Flex Application Programming Fundamentals

• Identify the properties and relationships between classes and objects and how they work in Flex.
• Identify how to display data in Flex.
• Identify how to manipulate data in Flex.
• Recognize how to validate data by using built-in and custom validator classes.
• Recognize how to create and use ActionScript classes.
• Identify the purpose and uses of handling events in Flex.
• Recognize how to use XML data in Flex.
• Recognize how to create and use custom components in Flex.
• Recognize how to display data using diff erent chart types, formats, and legends.

4. Interacting with Remote Data and Flex Applications

• Recognize how to use Remote Procedure Call (RPC) services.
• Recognize how to manage data using Flex Data Services (FDS).

Q: More information?
A: Check out the comprehensive link:
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/articles/flex_certification.html