Adobe AIR vs. Apache Flex vs. JetBrains Rider

Adobe AIR is well-suited for a developer who is already familiar with Flash and AS3. It is well-suited for 2D app development using Starling or another third-party graphics library. However, to be used appropriately and avoid errors and poor performance, a basic understanding of programming principles is needed, so it's not great for a designer who hasn't studied a lot of coding.

Incentivized

I feel like it was better suited in its role in the early days of the app, as things progressed, it didn't as much. It may have gotten better as Apache took over, but I think they lost some users due to other things taking over on the web a bit more.

Incentivized

I think it's the best IDE nowadays for game development, mainly in Unreal, but it's also the best one in cost/benefit for Unity. It might not work for people who prefer a more lightweight IDE, it's still pretty heavy and its indexing takes around 2~3GB of ram, but it's worth the quick indexing and IntelliSense.

Incentivized

• Runs on Windows, Mac OS, Android and Apple iOS.
• Allows developers to use tools such as Adobe Dreamweaver or Flash Professional and even text editor to develop an app.
• Adobe AIR runtime and AIR SDK are free.

Incentivized

• It is quick and simple to launch the application's user interface.
• It has powerful functionalities for seamless integration and user-friendliness.
• Its GUI, standard programming language, and agile model support multiple platforms.

Incentivized

• Helps you refactor your code into more readable and more efficient code.
• Highly customizable UI, including color themes, shortcut key remappings, and the ability to put any Window, Toolbar, or Docked tab anywhere you want, even on second screens. Additionally, this functionality can be customized per project, not just globally for the whole machine.
• More control over Git. Visual Studio just has the basics, but mostly all that is needed is for git repositories. It gets the job done., but Rider takes it one step further and gives you most of what you can do on the command line's simple, easy to access menu options.
• If you use TeamCity, then you have complete and full integration into your TeamCity build server!
• You can double tap your control key and get a quick pop up to instantly run any command. Double tap shift and you can search your entire project, filenames, AND text and filter that search!

Incentivized

• Adobe Air applications are taxing on a user's CPU, especially considering how simple a lot of the apps are.
• Updating and installing Air based applications is very user unfriendly, often asks for updates that are aggressively pushed to the front of the user.
• As HTML 5 has gotten more and more sophisticated, for basic things a lot of times browser-based apps make a lot more sense.

Incentivized

• Relied too much on flash at some times in its history.
• Not web standard.
• html5 took over its market.

Incentivized

• Things are starting to get slower as the IDE grows
• Blazor integration is a bit lacky
• Blazor hot reload could be automatically applied instead of having to click on Apply link/button.

Incentivized

Due to the performance and productivity benefits we get with Rider, we will continue to use it for the foreseeable future.

Incentivized

Although Adobe AIR is just an SDK without an actual "UI" it's commonly used within Flash, Flash Builder, or FlashDevelop. Considering the integration with Flash IDE, there are very few tools that can compete with its features.

Incentivized

It's easy to learn while still advanced. It has smart tricks up it's sleeve that you have to find out but that is to be expected. It has a modern new UI that some will find too compact, but it took me just a day to like it more than to switch back.

Incentivized

The support forums and knowledge base are extensive and the JetBrains support staff respond quickly to new posts and help resolve issues. There is also a publicly accessible issue tracking system, which allows you to stay on top of any bug fixes or enhancement requests.

Incentivized

There are definitely other platforms out there that are awesome but Adobe AIR is just what our other developers were used to using but we do have some success.

Incentivized

Apache Flex is a modern, standards-based programming language that supports common design patterns. It's an open-source SDK used to make rich Internet applications that work on different browsers and platforms. Any flash-based application framework, such as Eclipse or the Flash above Builder, can be used to implement this. So far, in comparison, it's much more crucial, especially for people working in fields like mobile development.

Incentivized

It’s a great free tool but not as enhanced as IntelliJ platform that JetBrains Rider has. Debugging and access to database is not as comfortable to use. Sure, you can save money on IDE, but may need to spend it on sleeping and stress relief pills.

Incentivized

• Using Adobe AIR allows your team to be comprised of Flash/ActionScript 3 developers, which can be easy/cheap to find compared to other disciplines (based on location). This can lower the bottom-line in terms of engineering costs.
• As the Adobe AIR SDK is free to use, the cost of entry is basically free. Additionally, the Adobe AIR SDK may be used in conjunction with a free IDE, such as FlashDevelop, making the entire stack completely free to use.
• One negative impact is the stigma against Adobe Flash/AIR. Due to Adobe's less than stellar track record (in terms of support and security) with both Flash and Flash Mobile, there are numerous clients that we've dealt with, that refused to approve Adobe AIR as a tool.

Incentivized

• Our users have a great positive feedback from the UI point of view.
• The ease of use of the application had doubled our existing user base.

Incentivized

• Writing clearer C# code based on refactoring suggestions
• Avoiding some obscure bugs that Rider has flagged in the IDE that would have taken a lot of time and effort to find and fix through testing
• Cost of licenses, though the benefits outweigh the costs

Incentivized