Flash vs. Flex: Why not skip Flex and use AS3's URLLoader + server code entirely?

Question

I'm familiar with most of the Flash vs. Flex comparisons out there and most of them present some version of "Flex is better for RIA's while Flash is better for design work".

Yet isn't it entirely possible to write elaborate RIA's using the URLLoader class + server side code? In this regard, I'm unclear as to what Flex offers aside from a set of handy user controls.

The reason I ask is that I'm starting a fairly complex Flash piece that needs to take a lot of round-trips to the DB. I'm hoping to avoid introducing a new framework into the equation but don't want to get bit by performance, scaling issues down the road.

Thanks.

T

Answer 1

If all you need above basic Flash is to make HTTP requests to get data from the server, by all means, go ahead and use URLLoader.

Use Flex when:

1. You do want that nice GUI library. (This can be as simple as a desire to use Flex's automatic layout facilities, like VBoxes.)
2. You want to compile your app from the command line, like traditional software. (This is independent of the Flex framework. The Flex SDK build tools can also build plain old AS3 projects.)
3. You want to build your application in a traditional software development IDE, Flex/Flash Builder, rather than the graphics and animation centric Flash Professional environment.
4. Your UI is better declared in MXML than built graphically in Flash Professional.