If you are up to date with Flash and Flex no doubt you have heard Flex 4 and Flash Builder (aka Flex Builder) have been released in beta. Great stuff, lots of new things to try out.
First thing I went looking for is the language reference. There is a whole slew of new 'spark' components which are, in some respects, a large departure from the mx (halo) components. The language reference will be a life saver in finding what's new, what's been added and more importantly what's been removed. As you scroll through the toc panel you'll notice a lot of the items are doubled up, that's because Adobe is providing the documentation for both the mx and spark versions of each component. You need to look closely at either the url before you click on the link or the package name after to make sure you've got the right one.
Second thing to find was the Flex 4 help guide. Adobe always does a decent job of providing details on the new architecture, components, etc. A lot of it is carryover from Flex 3 but there is some good info specific to spark: skinning, containers, and list controls.
Stay tuned as I start to dig into Flex 4, it's been a long journey from Flex 1 but it keeps getting better.
Derrick Grigg is a Rich Internet Application (RIA) freelance contractor based in Toronto, Canada. He specializes in architecting and developing applications using a variety of technologies, most notably Flash, Flex and Coldfusion.
