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Good code means the computer does what it's good at. Bad code means you have to do things that the computer could be doing.

All you're doing by writing good code is letting the computer do your 'copy-pasting' for you.

Thought I'd offset my love-related etching from yesterday with a Flex rant...

Using Apple's UI development tools has helped to clarify the benefits of a template-based approach to UI development. Under that mantel I include things like Flex, .NET, Java Struts and Tiles - anything where you use a parameterised components to build a user interface. There are two benefits to a system like this:

1. initial speed of development
2. consistency of look and feel between applications

I say initial speed of development because I have always found that as time goes on, these 'easy, fast' systems tend to result in code that is difficult to maintain as the complexity grows (although you could say that about anything really... I'm really saying that the 'easyness' fosters a certain 'bricklaying' style of programming that is tedious to change due to excessive copy-pasting of details instead of OOP centralisation).

The Apple stuff brought point 2 home - it's very important for an operating system to maintain a look and feel between applications. That's where this sort of thing belongs. The good thing about the Apple implementation is that there are lots of very high quality components and integration hooks that can be used to rapidly build a fancy looking application. Also, since Apple themselves use these tools, their construction is optimised for real world use.

Here's the rub: Consistent look and feel is a no-no for Flash applications. The whole point of using Flash is differentiation of UI concepts, creating branded experiences, creating something unique every time. So Flex is generally more of a hinderance than a help when it comes to building RIAs for the web.

Flex MXML source code looks like bad HTML. As a sometime HTML developer, seeing X and Y coordinates hard coded into my view structure makes my blood itch. Seeing visual implementation details randomly mixed in with structural details scares me. I am deeply concerned that the templating language of Flex has learned nothing from all the progress that has been made cleaning up HTML over the years.

I hate the 'data provider' paradigm. It never works. It was never enough for a .NET app, and it won't be enough for a Flex app. There's always something you need to change that the component API doesn't let you change, so you end up jumping through artificial hoops imposed by the incomplete component implementation.

When you develop parameterised components, you are adding redundant functionality to your code. You try to second-guess future implementations, but you never think of everything. The more flexible a component, the fatter it is. Which is why a Flex application takes so long to download. Watching a progress bar on a website before I can do anything makes me want to leave straight away.

The other facet of this sort of encapsulation is the inevitable event maelstrom. To make a component flexible enough for use in a real world app, it needs to be dispatching events all over the place. And in my experience, the one you need is always missing. It's okay if you have the source code - you can add in an event at the point you need it, but it's never quite right.

Another problem with component encapsulation is that when you have a lot of classes going into your component's implementation, you end up having to override a whole inheritance chain to change a small detail. Um... that is, say you want to change the font on a button inside a combo box - you have to override the combo box to use a different list item class that uses a different button component which creates a differently styled textfield. Unless the developer happens to have implemented that all-important 'kerning' parameter that your designer is insisting you perfect...


So yeah. I don't like Flex because it
1) encourages lazy development practices by purporting to be 'fast' and 'easy'
2) mixes view with model with controller in XML files that can only get bigger
3) creates artificial barriers to the level of customisation necessary for any Flash app with the flawed 'state' model
4) has an ugly default look and feel
5) has components that don't quite do everything you'd expect (try using the keyboard or mouse wheel on some things and you'll see what I mean)
6) results in a lot of tangled up event listeners

I see all of these problems as coming from the parameterised component paradigm, although if the implementation was as good as Apple's then I might be a bit more interested. However, even with Apple's implementation I quickly found myself wanting to return to a code-based UI construction process, cos, you know - why hard code x and y coordinates all over the place when you could have a couple of static constants in your source and work everything else out at runtime?

This guy's got the right idea. Calmly using science to solve humanity's major problems..
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/227



Go Craig Venter!

Just noticed my feed was broken. If you use Google Reader or iGoogle or Netvibes or any kind of rss reader, how about you do me the service of subscribing to my feed? It lives at http://feeds.feedburner.com/michaelforrest. Shows upcoming gigs at the top, and any updates to this site go through so you don't have to keep coming back here. Plus it works as a podcast so you can subscribe with iTunes and any tracks I put online will automatically get added to your library. Also, Google reader and Netvibes have built in mp3 players so you can listen to my tracks from there too.

I am tremendously excited that mister Marcus Alexander has started a personal blog.



I am enjoying the friendly tone of this blog - there is a distinctly warmer style than Marcus usually uses in his always articulate and insightful communications. Get subscribed, you know it's gonna be good stuff. withoutsubstance.blogspot.com

Thought you might want a track listing for the CD I'm giving for free with each order from my shop.

Name	With	Year
Clanging		2006
been a long time coming - mf+foz	Foz	2007
Denial	Dewex	2008
Smunk -Addicted Fanatic	MC Lee	2002
Smunk - Smoked to Death		2003
Dreaming of Polygamy		2006
Bumpy Bosbo (radio edit)		2006
Blow Up Inside		2006
Anger Belly (radio edit)		2006
Song Of Technology		2007
Sliding Down feat.Schooly Dave		2007
No one ever told me what it's like to be dead	Dewex	2006
I Said I Love You One Time	Lina	2007
Horoskope Instrumental (work-in-progress)		2007
Dark Euphoria	Lina	2007
Here I Go Smunk Remix	Shadow Huntaz	2004
CelloNonsense		2004
Music For Trains		2006
It Doesn't Have To Be This Way Instrumental		2007
I wish I could make it all go away		2007
Black Hole		2006
Selection Rejection.mp3		2007
- Some Day.mp3		2007
I Can't Remember.mp3		2006
Can't Get You Out Of My Head - [backing].mp3		2006
How'd They Ever Get It On Anyway		2007
Bumpy Bosbo Long Preview		2006
Anger Belly Extended (Needs Mastering)		2006
Looks Like Riggiddy Rain		2007
Fudruck June 2007 - Live		2007
We Did		2005
How You See Me		2005
Breezing Preload		2005
Xut Um Up		2005
Sketch of a left hand		2005
If You Want To Write		2005
That Yawning Hollow Void		2005
Human Thing		2005
Hobgoblin		2005
Juicy Skin Biscuits		2005
Something Inside		2005
Festivo		2005
No Turning Back You		2004
Cold Turkey		2004
Don't Go Slow Mo		2004
Fully Unoperational		2004
housey improvisation (live)		2004
Darned No Good Shoes		2004
I'm Going Through The Bins		2004
Slipping Down Not Alone		2004
Don't Ever Slow Down		2004
Bendy Gutter		2004
In the fightyfiftyfourfties		2004
Caught In The Bitstream		2004
It Hurts, Make It Stop		2004
A Put Anotha Bread In Me Bread Bin	Lina	2008
Make a promise	Lina	2008

Come to my little stall.

Apple Instruments comes bundled with Leopard. It's part of the whole developer toolkit that Apple give you for developing OS X Applications. All their tools are somewhat beautiful (the only real omission as far as I'm concerned is tabs in XCode).

I am doing some Flash work and realised there was a major memory leak and realised that I could use Instruments to track stuff in the Flash Player same as anywhere else.

All you need to do is Launch Executable->/Applications/Flash Player.app, and put the path to your swf in the arguments box in the Select Executable window.



You can monitor and record memory usage, file access, cpu use, beachball-time, and even get screen captures of user interface events on the chart. This is just excellent.