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Tip: Setting Up Flex Builder The Sane Way

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There is a right and a wrong way to set up Flex Builder. The wrong way is to get the Flex Builder package from the Adobe site. It’s running on a super old version of Eclipse, and it lacks a lot of useful editors and functionality. I have lost many man-hours of productivity to this version of Flex, which is why I am writing this post.

What you want to do is this: Go get the latest, vanilla Java-IDE version of Eclipse. You can do this at the Eclipse downloads page, the package called “Eclipse IDE For Java Developers.” (Not Java SE, unless you want an extra hundred megs of Java tools.)

Now, go to the Adobe Flex download page, and go to download it – but scroll waaay down and get the plug-in instead.

Finally, install Eclipse – then install the plugin. Now you have a fully up to date, ready to go version of Flex, as well as a bunch of nice tools that come with Eclipse for Java. In my experience, this is significantly more reliable and responsive than the all-in-one build from Adobe.

Edit: Don’t forget to do Help -> Search for Flex Builder Updates and Help -> Software Updates… to make sure that you are fully up to date!

Posted in How To.

By Ben – December 12, 2008

  • Nice writeup, Orion. Linking it in from my post here.
  • elenzil
    for those who may come across this post on their search to learning how to set up a command-line-only Flex environment, and who also know previously zilch about Flex/AS/Flash, i sketch the steps very roughly here: http://elenzil.com/flash/flash_1
  • elenzil
    heh. interesting; i look forward to the post !

    thanks for this Flex tip, btw.
    since my comment above i started looking for a framework in which to write some simple 3D apps in a portable, easy-to-consume way and have decided to try out Flash 10. i'm hoping the command-line-only approach will work out, but i'll probably give the IDE a look as well.
  • Good question. In fact, so good that I put it in my queue for future blog posts instead of writing out an answer here. :)

    Short answer: I like Tamarin best because it has AS3 support. The performance isn't the biggest issue.
  • elenzil
    hey ben, it's orion elenzil.
    any thoughts on the new google native x86 stuff vs the recent work in the various javascript cores ?
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