In 2008, Flex reached the tipping point where it went from a technology with possibilities, to wide spread usage.  The year started with Adobe releasing Flex 3 and AIR 1.0 and finished with an updated release of AIR (1.5).  According to friends at Adobe, in mid-2008 there were about 150,000 Flex developers – a number that pushes it beyond interesting, to a viable and growing community.  Also, there were the Sun Deflextions…

In my consulting travels, it went from a technology few knew of in 2007, to one where most developers had some impression of it, or had even done some work with it in 2008.  It has been exciting to see a technology go from the fringes to the prime time.  I do hope that Adobe finds a true revenue model, and Flex doesn’t just become another Java as far as the vendor is concerned.

Personally, this really means new challenges for 2009, as I am tasked with writing RIA content for InfoQ.com and building real applications with Flex.  In late 2007 and early 2008, there was a constant stream of announcements and excitement around the platform.  As 2009 starts, I think it has already become more about the reality of building real world applications.  So, on the InfoQ side, I think my new challenge is going to be providing resources on how to best implement applications on the platform and talking more about the weaknesses of Flex and how to address them.  I guess that is the reality for any platform that becomes mainstream.

All that said, 2008 was an exciting time to be associated with Adobe Flex!