darron schall :: application developer specializing in the flash platform

I'm surprised this hasn't gotten around the blogsphere sooner. Nicolas Cannasse announced today that a beta release of an ActionScript 2 compiler is now available. Here's the list of relevant links:

• The original announcement thread
• Mailing list
• Mailing list archives
• Beta 1 Download
• Paul Spitzer's generate exclude file
• More info and background on exclude.xml

It's awesome to see this kind of stuff being developed. Earlier this year I started writing my own version of the same (in Java, with SableCC). I got to the point of a working syntax checker but never released anything as I didn' thave the motivation/desire to go any further since Kinetic Fusion 2 was released around the same time. So, this is welcome news to actually have something working and close to completion.

The beta download contains a guide for installation, usage, and some comparisons with Macromedia's ActionScript compiler. MTASC is blazingly fast by comparison...

Finally, according to the beta download, the source code will be released under the GPL once the beta is complete. Awesome news, thanks Nicolas!

If you have some free time and want to brush up on some UML skills, heres a few links that provide a good read.

• Practical UML™: A Hands-On Introduction for Developers - by Randy Miller
• Developer.com Series
  • UML Overview
  • UML Tools
  • The rest of the series can be found by clicking the next article link at the end of the UML Tools article.
• UML Dictionary

If anyone is interested, I can post up the UML diagram for SolVE. Although the app is coded in Java, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out behind the scenes. A little bit of planning goes a long way.

Also, by now you should've seen/heard the buzz about the previews of Flash Player 8. If not, check the original post at moock.org. The video had to be taken down due to bandwidth, but trust me, it was cool. A lot of the blogs are talking about this.. Cheers to Macromedia for such an impressive demonstration.

I've released a new version of SolVE - the cross platform Local Shared Object Viewer/Editor. The source code has also been released under the Common Public License. More details (and download links) here.

There's still a decent amount that's left to be done, but I somewhat doubt that the application will ever be complete (see "Good enough vs. ideal"). I wanted to release the source though in hope that someone else might want to kick start development and because I don't want to let another project of mine just die.

I tend to get to a point in personal projects where the last 10% or so is hard to finish -- there's so many things that I want to work on in my spare time that I usually get distracted, lose interest, become bored, and just have a hard time in general following through.

To be honest, I haven't touched this code in a little while (other than preparing it for release). With moving to a completely new city and starting a brand new job, I haven't had the time nor the desire to dig in. I'm also trying to adjust to living on my own for the very first time as well. When things settle down for me I can see myself picking up on development again, but for now I think I just need to relax since I have so much going on...

So... enjoy! There's an OS X build and a Windows build, and complete source code. Part of the build process that couldn't be automated by ant was building the windows.exe from JSmooth. I would build the project, run the JSmooth build by hand (using the config file in /etc/win), and then run the compress.bat which almost cuts the .exe file size in half.

If you're interested in helping, let me know. If you use SolVE, consider making a donation.. or just show some love in the comments.

After a very hectic past few weeks, I'm finally back up and running. Life has been busy lately, but things are starting to settle down - just in time for me to start the new job on Monday.

I've spent the past 4 days moving and taking care of loose ends. Moving in general requires a lot of paperwork changes, and moving to a new state is even more hectic. Just today I spent about an hour in line at the MVA replacing my Pennsylvania driver's license with a Maryland one. It feels good to finally have internet and phone access again too.. that was hooked up yesterday.

This move has been particularly stressful because this is the first time I'm moving out on my own (aside from living in a dorm at college). As such, I've had to buy quite a bit of furniture for the new place and replaced many of the things I took for granted while leeching off of my mother (like dishes and coasters). I can't count the number of times I've been to IKEA in the past week on one hand anymore, but the new place is shaping up to be quite livable and I'm starting to really enjoy myself.

Needless to say, I'm very excited to start Monday and I'm looking forward to a new chapter in life, especially with Jen and I getting married next summer. We both enjoy the area a lot, and I can see myself settling here for quite some time.

Additionally, with the amount of Flash work that I'll be doing I'll probably stop doing contract work since I can feed my Flash addiction during the day. This should free up some time for more of my personal projects, which includes better weblog entries, a website redesign (using FarCry CMS), SolVE, more Flash experiments and just more exploration of technology in general.

On a parting note, before I get back to my regular on-topic posting, I applied for a SourceForge project for SolVE this evening. Hopefully that will be accepted this week and I can get out the .2 version next week sometime with a few new data types and some updated functionality.

It's good to be back.