The Flight Framework is a recent addition to the ever-growing set of MVC frameworks for application development in Adobe Flex. Tyler Wright, Rob Taylor, and Jacob Wright created the Flight Framework to meet their ActionScript and Flex development needs, and recently open sourced it in beta under the MIT license. Tyler discusses the release on his blog:
The Flight Framework is the evolution of an ActionScript framework that has been around for a few years. It was a replacement to Cairngorm and was originally designed for web-based, design-centric applications such as logo makers and book builders. Even now the framework ships with the CommandHistory - an entire solution for undo and redo - and other practical utilities that strengthen its offering.
Flight Framework maintains an emphasis on supporting capable clients: Flex and Flash applications that are much more than just a pretty face to a server implementation. Through features like domains (modular MVC systems) and a prescribed structure, the framework transforms component scripting into real application development.
In describing the framework, the creators often liken it to Cairngorm, but without all of the “boiler-plate” code. The project blog describes the framework in more detail:
The framework prescribes a Model-View-Controller workflow that minimizes the complexity of application development. It modularizes domain logic, streamlines team development, and creates a natural iterative programming environment. Most importantly, Flight Framework is designed to make your day to day coding experience as simple and enjoyable as possible.
Flight is a minimalist. Everything from its size to its prescribed processes ensure that you never have to do more than is absolutely needed.
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The Flight Framework prescribes a common structure and methodology that can be leveraged throughout all tiers of your application.
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A Flight application is made up of a series of one or more MVC modules, or domains. Each domain under Flight represents a specific business domain, or a real-world set of related problems and solutions. Domain examples are infinite and range anywhere from a user account to an entire shopping cart, from an application’s screen flow to a full image-editing library. These MVC subsystems are defined by you, reflecting your application goals, and are unique to their specific purposes. Some domains are completely self-contained and are reused across many projects, while others have dependencies among each other or the application. Domains can even be organized hierarchically, a high-level domain wrapping a group of sub-domains, for greater modularization and manageability of a complex system. Though a powerful tool, domains are simple enough and easy to approach in development. In Flight, well-defined domains will be the strength of your application development.
Learn more about the Flight Framework on the project site: http://www.flightxd.com.