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RIA Data Loading Benchmarks

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

Random permutation of array

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 );

Flex Explorers

Four most useful explorers for every Flex developer:

TODO/FIXME extension for Flex Builder

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

Seeded random number generator in ActionScript 3

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:

WordPress plugin: Code Markup

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.

Displaying Sprite in Flex

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