simplebits.org

I just found great application for testing performance of various data exchange protocols for client-server communication using Flex - Census.

Here is the code snippet for generating random permutation of array:

var a:Array = new Array( 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 );

trace( "Array: " + a );

for ( var i:uint = 0; i < a.length; ++i )
{
    var j:int = Math.random() * i;

    // Swap a[i] and a[j]
    var temp:* = a[j];
    a[j] = a[i];
    a[i] = temp;
}

trace( "Permutation: " + a );

Four most useful explorers for every Flex developer:

• Flex 3 Style Explorer,
• Flex 3 Component Explorer,
• Flex 2 Primitive Explorer by Jason Hawryluk,
• Flex 2 Filter Explorer.

Great little tool for Flex Builder users. It parser all ActionScript and MXML files and searches comments for FIXME and TODO tokens. Complete list of them will be available in Window > Other views > General > Tasks panel. It was designed for Flex Builder 2 but works like a charm with version 3.

Download extension

Recently I needed seeded pseudo-random number generator for my Flex project. After searching I found three good articles with solution of that problem. Grant Skinner proposed use of BitmapData.noise() method. He also provides Parker-Miller psuedo-random number generator based on implementation by Michael Baczynski.

Useful links:

• Source Code: Seeded Random in ActionScript 3 by Grant Skinner,
• A good Pseudo-Random Number Generator (PRNG) by Michael Baczynski,
• SeededRandomizer. A Seed Based Pseudorandom Number Generator in Actionscript by Noel Billig.

The best plugin for displaying code in WP. Without any fancy coloring, support for HTML tags and preserves code formatting. You can find it at semicolon blog.

Today I’ve tried to add simple Sprite instance to Flex Canvas using addChild() method, but it doesn’t work. Solution is very simple - use rawChildren.addChild().

⇥ Continued