May 30, 2009
5 Tips for new Flash Developers
When I graduated college two years ago I thought I had all the tools I needed to build flash sites. One lesson that I quickly learned is that I was wrong. I’m glad to have had my teachers and they did prepare me for life after graduation, but I didn’t realize how much more learning I had to go through. Two years later I feel like I’ve learned a lot and grown as a Flash Developer, but I still have a long way to go. What I do want to hopefully pass on to other new Flash Developers are some of the tips and lessons that I have learned. Hopefully this will help you avoid a few headaches and late nights of development.
1. Be organized from the start.
I used to be under the thought, “I can’t worry about keeping my library organized because this needs to get done 10 minutes ago.” Sure that might be true, but still it’s no excuse. You have to get under the mindset to organize everything from the start. That means in your library you use folders and group them in some sort of organization. If you work with a team of flash developers then work together to agree on one standard. Trust me it will save so much headache later when you have to come back to that rushed project six months later.
This also goes for your projects. You want to make sure to organize where your FLAs, classes, assets, etc all go. You don’t want these all slapped into one directory because then it becomes a muddled mess that slows you down. How you organize everything should make sense to not only you but your fellow co-workers.
One final tip for organization is to separate your source files from your web files. Your source files should be your FLAs, classes, external libraries, and any assets that will be embedded into your flash. Your web files are what you need to run your project online. These should be your SWFs, xml, external images, html, and javascript files. This is another measure to keep order in what is most likely your busy day at work.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
This is great if you have other flash co-workers around you because it can save you hours of banging your head on the keyboard. There is also a good chance someone else went through the same problem as you and already knows the answer. Be careful though, I feel like this tip can be a double edged sword. While you should ask questions I don’t feel like you should use it as a crutch. Part of growing as a developer is being able to solve problems on your own.
What do you do if you don’t have other flash developers next to you? Well Google and twitter might become your new best friends. Also, if you know another developer then get them on aim. Some form of contact is better than none.
3. Watch. Listen. Learn.
This is my favorite ways of learning. If a co-worker is showing you some new code or you have to go into his/her files to perform a maintenance task then pay attention to what you are see and hear. There is so much you can pick up when you’re watching another developer work or you’re sifting through his/her code. Even if all you learn are small bits of information that is still new information that can go on to help you later. After you see this then ask him/her why they chose to use a while… loop here instead of a for.. loop. You get a view of their insight and thought process.
Finally, if another developer that you respect suggests a better way to code or work then you might want to listen. Most likely they aren’t doing it for their health. Take their advice and at least try it for a week or two to see how well it works. They are giving this advice because most likely they have been in this position before and know there is a better way.
4. Go beyond your world.
For many flash developers this can be tough. You’re probably constantly stuck in a time crunch and the last thing you may have time for is to read a new book or go scavenging through blogs for new information. The only advice I can give you is make time. If you stick to just what you already know and don’t try to learn more then you will never really advance. You’ll be stuck working the same way you worked last year and sometimes that’s not what you really want. If you work with a team then you already have a great set of resources right next to you. Try to learn as much from them and they’ll learn from you.
One way that I have found to help me learn is I stocked my Google Reader full of programming websites and blogs. This ranges from flash developers, animators, and even programmers that don’t specialize in flash. Another great tool is twitter. If you follow the right people you can gain a lot of useful links, articles, and tools. It will help bring the information to you instead of constantly searching for it. Try to find what works best for you. The goal should be to help you learn and get better.
5. Develop with a framework.
Using a good framework is essential in any development process. If you don’t use one then you’re really hindering yourself. Ever since I started developing with a framework it’s saved me countless times. It’s stopped me from doing repetitive tasks and allowed me to focus on other areas, which resulted in getting projects done faster. Now, instead of worrying about preloading assets I can worry about how to properly build that menu so that I can re-use it for another project. Or I can worry about that animation that deserves some good attention.
Another great aspect of using a framework, especially in a team setting, is that it enforces standardization. What this means is I can go into my co-worker’s files and know exactly how he has it set up because we both use the same framework. Already, I am in a comfortable setting and can begin to work.
Luckily, in our Flash world there are a few good options for frameworks. I feel like some of them can be too basic but at least it’s a start. Here are a few great options that support both Actionscript 2 & 3:
Finally, for a great video tutorial on Gaia Framework check out this blog post from Joseph Schmitt.
So that’s it. Hopefully these tips help you. I’m sure there’s a lot more that I could have said and it would easy to take each point and expand it into it’s own post. But I feel like these are a few short and important tips for all the new flash developers out there.