Adobe Flash Builder 4

Follow these steps to begin experiencing Flash Builder 4:

1. Download the Flash Builder 4 beta 2 release
2. Learn to use Flash Builder 4
3. Read the release notes
4. Uninstall any other versions of Flash Builder 4

5. Install Flash Builder 4 beta 2.

   Note: You can install a separate copy of Flash Builder 4 standalone and it will remain separate from any Flex Builder 2 or 3 (or Flash Builder 4 Beta 1) installations. Also, workspaces created in Flex Builder 2 or Flex Builder 3 are not supported by Flash Builder 4. Lastly, Flash Builder 4 can import existing Flex Builder projects, but a project that has its settings modified by Flash Builder 4 will no longer open in Flex Builder 3 or Flex Builder 2.

6. Ask questions and share your feedback in the Flash Builder 4 forum

   Please note that your submission of comments, ideas, feature requests and techniques on this and other Adobe maintained forums, as well as Adobe's right to use such materials, is governed by the Terms of Use.
7. Install the Community Help Adobe AIR® application beta (optional) — The Adobe Community Help AIR application beta is a preview of our next-generation help experience for all Adobe products, delivering the best learning content and code examples from Adobe and community experts.

Below you'll find references and links to help you participate in the Flex community.

Online Forum

Ask questions and discuss ideas with other Flash Builder 4 users in the Labs forums.

• Visit the Labs forum for Flash Builder 4

Please note that your submission of comments, ideas, feature requests and techniques on this and other Adobe maintained forums, as well as Adobe's right to use such materials, is governed by the Terms of Use.

Developer Center

Learn More About Building Flex Applications in the Developer Center

• Visit the Flex Developer Center
• Read Tim Buntel’s updated What’s New in Flash Builder 4 article
• Read Matt Chotin’s updated What’s new in the Flex 4 SDK beta article
• Read Joan Lafferty’s Differences between Flex 3 and Flex 4 beta article

Find and Share Code Recipe Solutions in the Flex Cookbook

In support of the Adobe Labs beta release, the newly enhanced Flex Cookbook is now accepting Flex 4 beta recipes.

• Contribute a Flex 4 beta recipe
• Check out a list of Flex 4 beta recipes

Resources

If you want to learn more about releases on Labs as well as other Adobe technologies, visiting a user group or connecting with an Adobe Community Expert is a great place to start.

• Find a user group
• Find an Adobe Community Expert

• Documentation
• FAQ
• System Requirements
• Release Notes

Documentation

• Using Adobe Flash Builder 4 contains usage information for Flash Builder 4, including descriptions and instructions for Flash Builder 4 features.
• Read the Adobe Flex 4 Features and Migration Guide to understand migrating applications using Flex 3 framework applications to using the Flex 4 framework.
• Flex 4 Language Reference
• Accessing Data with Flex 4
• Using Adobe Flex 4
• Flash Builder Tutorials
• Flex Developer Center
  

Note: The Flex 4 framework works with Adobe AIR 1.5.2, which has not been updated for this release. For Adobe AIR documentation, see the Adobe AIR Help Resources page.

FAQ

What are the goals of the preview?

The Flash Builder 4 beta 2 release is intended to enable you to explore the many new and updated features in addition to the new workflow between Flash Builder 4 and Adobe Flash Catalyst (previously codenamed Thermo,) plus the new workflow between Flash Builder 4 and Flash Professional. Please provide feedback through the bugbase and through the beta forums.

What is new or changed in beta 2 that wasn’t in beta 1?

Thanks to the feedback that we received from our beta 1 testers, beta 2 adds significant refinements to the many features that we introducing in Flash Builder 4 and the Flex 4 framework. It also improves the integration between the Spark and Halo components. More new Spark components have been added to the Flex framework, while you’ll find many improvements made to the new data-centric features and others in Flash Builder.

Many of the new features in the beta 2 release will help you become more successful using the new Flex 4 framework, providing more clarity between the use of Flex 3 and Flex 4 throughout the IDE. You find that code hinting has been improved to provide more intuitive visualization for recommended component use from Flex 3 and Flex 4. You will also notice new options when creating Flex projects that offer to hint only the MX components (useful if you are working with projects coming from Flex 3); and as you type the code hints display all possible options while promoting the ones that make the most sense in your context.

The new data-centric development features have also evolved and expanded based on beta 1 user feedback, providing improved UI for common tasks like configuring datatypes returned from servers; new support for BlazeDS and the upcoming LCDS release; improvements to the configurability of generated code, and more.

Where can I find out more about the features in Flash Builder 4?

Tim Buntel’s What’s New in Flash Builder 4 article and Matt Chotin’s What’s New in the Flex 4 SDK beta article are both good resources and have both been updated for the beta 2 release. You should also check out the Flash Builder 4 and Flex 4 SDK tutorials.

Will Flash Builder 4 work with the Flex 3 SDK or the Flex 2 SDK?

You can use Flash Builder 4 with the existing Flex 3.4 SDK or higher. You cannot, however use Flash Builder 4 with the Flex 2 SDK.

Can I run Flash Builder 4 separately from my current Flex Builder 3 installation?

Yes. You can install a separate copy of Flash Builder 4 standalone and it will remain separate from any Flex Builder 2 or 3 (or Flash Builder 4 Beta 1) installations. It is important to note however, that workspaces created in Flex Builder 2 or Flex Builder 3 are not supported by Flash Builder 4. Also, although Flash Builder 4 can import existing Flex Builder projects, once a project has its settings modified using Flash Builder 4, it will no longer open in Flex Builder 3 or Flex Builder 2.

How long can I use Flash Builder 4 beta 2?

The beta 2 release of Flash Builder 4 will run for 60 days from installation before timing out. You may continue your use of beta 2 after the first 60 days by entering a valid Flash Builder 4 extension serial number. All current Flex Builder 3 customers will be emailed an extension serial number. If you own a copy of Flex Builder 3 and did not receive an email with an extension serial number, you may request one online by entering your valid Flex Builder 3 serial number. Please visit http://www.adobe.com/go/flashbuilderextension to request an extension serial number.

If you don’t yet own Flex Builder 3 and want to continue using the beta you will need to purchase a Flex Builder 3 license. By adding a 12 month maintenance plan with your purchase, you will receive a free-of-charge copy of Flash Builder 4 when it ships.

When will the final version of Flash Builder 4 be available?

Adobe is not yet disclosing the final release date for Flash Builder 4, however we expect it to be in the first half of 2010.

Can I work on my existing Flex 3 applications using the Flash Builder 4 preview release?

Yes, however please understand that there will be bugs in the beta release and we therefore suggest that you only use the beta for testing and evaluation purposes – not for development of production software.

What localized languages does Flash Builder 4 support?

The Flash Builder 4 Beta allows the selection of installation in English, French, German, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Russian. We are still in the process of translating non-English versions, so some strings may appear in English. For this reason, we ask that you do not file linguistic bugs related to translation quality or missing translations at this time, however we do look forward to hearing about your experience running Flash Builder on localized OSs.

What is the Flash Builder 4 Premium edition?

When Flash Builder 4 is released for purchase, the current plan is to name the full-featured edition Flash Builder 4 Premium edition. This change is being made to reduce any risk of confusion between Adobe Flash Professional and Adobe Flash Builder.

I noticed the Flex 4 Test Automation Plug-in for QTP is a separate download from Flash Builder. Does that mean I don't have to pay for Flash Builder Pro to use it?

The Flex Automation components are one of the features of Flash Builder 4 Premium, and to enable using them for more than 30 steps you will need to have a valid license. The plug-in for HP QTP is available as a separate download but requires the Flex Automation components to function.

Does Flex 4 support HP QTP 10?

By the time Flex 4 ships we will have official support for HP QTP 10. Currently official support is for QTP 9.5, though our testing so far has not shown major issues with QTP 10.

System Requirements

The minimum system requirements for Flash Builder 4 are as follows:

Windows

• Windows XP Pro SP2, SP3
• Windows Vista - 32 bit

Macintosh

• 10.5.6 (Leopard) Intel only, PPC not supported
• 10.6 (Snow Leopard)

Eclipse

• Eclipse 3.4.2
• Eclipse 3.5

Java

• Windows - Sun 1.5 and 1.6. (32 bit), IBM 1.5 and 1.6 (32 bit)
• OS X - Sun 1.5 (32 bit)

Memory

• 1GB required, 2GB recommended

Data Centric Development Services

• PHP
  • PHP 5.1.0
  • Zend Framework 1.8.0 (with patch, bundled with Flash Builder)
• ColdFusion
  • ColdFusion 8
  • ColdFusion 9
• J2EE
  • BlazeDS 3.2.0
  • LCDS ES2
• Web Services
  • WSDL 1.1

Release Notes

This beta 2 release of Flash Builder 4 is prerelease software and is designed for evaluation purposes only. The software contained within the installer is not yet complete; but, many additions to the product are fully implemented and ready for you to try and discuss.

See the complete Flash Builder 4 release notes