Adobe Flash Builder Premium for Eclipse v4.0

Adobe Flash Builder is one of the big players in the category of Flash IDEs, providing a professional development environment intended for creating high-performance applications and games for the Web, mobile or touch-enabled devices, such as smart phones and tablets.

Using the open source Flex framework, it offers programmers a collection of advanced development tools that aim to help them generate cross-platform, rich content.

Coding productivity is one of its key characteristics, revealed by the array of code templates (for ActionScript, CSS and MXML) and the comprehensive Eclipse-based code editor, with syntax highlighting, code completion and collapse, automatic detection of invalid references, refactoring support and quick navigation (advanced search options and bookmarks).

The built-in ActionScript compiler allows you to build your application, while the integrated debugging and testing tools help you transfer the application to locally connected devices or emulator software, assess their capabilities and identify their flaws.

The variate library of components allows the visual design of the GUI layout and response, while the CSS and the graphical property editors, along with the variate theme collection are there to help you customize the appearance and style of the output. UI components can be assigned methods and properties created in Java, PHP, REST or SOAP.

The built-in wizards offer an intuitive method for creating new projects, whereas the interactive data visualization options help you create dashboards and perform data binding.

As expected, it seamlessly integrates with other Adobe products (Adobe Flash, Illustrator, Photoshop, Fireworks) and offers native support for the Adobe AIR runtime.

The powerful coding tools, alongside the comprehensive working environment make Adobe Flash Builder a reliable, worth-having utility. Standing up to its developer's name, it guides you throughout all the necessary steps for creating engaging applications, from idea to deployment.

Here are some key features of "Adobe Flash Builder":
- Powerful coding tools:
- Develop using a powerful Eclipse based IDE that includes editors for MXML, the ActionScript language, and CSS, as well as syntax coloring, statement completion, code collapse, interactive step-through debugging, and automatic generation of common code.
- Rich visual layout:
- Visually design and preview user interface layout, appearance, and behavior using a rich library of built-in components. Extend the built-in Flex framework components or create new ones as needed. Import functional application UI created using the Adobe Flash Catalyst interaction design tool.
- Native support for Adobe AIR:
- Create applications for the Adobe AIR runtime with Flash Builder, including all the tools required to build, debug, package, and sign AIR applications. Adobe AIR lets you quickly develop RIAs for the desktop using the same skills and codebase you use to build RIAs for the browser.
- Code refactoring:
- Quickly navigate through code or restructure it by renaming all references to a class, method, or variable. Flash Builder adds move refactoring.
- Data-centric development:
- Introspect Java, PHP, Adobe ColdFusion, REST, and SOAP services to display methods and properties in the new Data/Service Explorer. Bind methods to UI components using a simple drag-and-drop approach.
- Interactive data visualization:
- Create data dashboards and interactive data analysis by simply dragging and dropping a chart type and linking it to a data source using the Flex Charting library. Use the powerful Advanced Datagrid to enable users to explore complex data.
- Skinning and styling enhanced:
- Customize the appearance of an application using CSS and graphical property editors. Quickly set the most commonly used properties and preview the results in Design View. Browse available themes and apply them to your project using the new Theme Browser.
- Integration with Adobe Creative Suite design tools:
- Import design assets created using Adobe Flash Professional, Illustrator, Photoshop, or Fireworks software, or import a complete application user interface created using Flash Catalyst. A new workflow between Flash Professional and Flash Builder facilitates importing and updating custom Flex components.