An Introduction to Maven and Flex

AN INTRODUCTION TO
MAVEN AND FLEX

@justinjmoses

WHAT IS MAVEN?

Automated build & dependency management

Convention over conﬁguration

Repositories - both local and remote - maintain dependencies

Uses a pom.xml ﬁle to detail build instructions

Hierarchical tree structures - each artifact can have a parent and N
children.

Runs a series of phases in the project lifecycle, including compile, test,
package and install

THE BUILD LIFECYCLE

Builds are made up of phases. Default lifecycle:

Compile

Test

(build test classes and run)

Package
(package as single artifact)

Install

(install artifact locally)

Deploy

(upload artifact to remote repository)

WHAT IS FLEXMOJOS?

A Maven plugin that manages the compilation, optimisation and testing
of ﬂex applications, modules and libraries.

Open Source: github.com/Flexmojos/ﬂexmojos

Written and maintained by @velobr

REPOSITORIES

Local repository is ~/.m2 (or under Users[You].m2 in Win7)

Settings.xml ﬁle depicts machine-level settings - such as remote
repository locations.

NEXUS

Nexus is a repository manager

Organisations using Maven typically have their own internal Nexus
instance

Nexus can proxy to other Nexus repositories

Two types of repositories - Snapshot and Release

A SIMPLE FLEX
APPLICATION

Minimum requirements:

pom.xml to describe the build

one or more source ﬁles

LOOKING AT THE POM
<project>
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<groupId>org.justinjmoses.maven</groupId>
<artifactId>flexmojos-simplist</artifactId>
<name>Simplist Flexmojos</name>
<version>0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
<packaging>swf</packaging>

<build>
<sourceDirectory>src</sourceDirectory>
<plugins>

<plugin>
<groupId>org.sonatype.flexmojos</groupId>
<artifactId>flexmojos-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>4.0-RC1</version>
<configuration>
<sourceFile>./Main.swf</sourceFile>
<swfVersion>12</swfVersion>
</configuration>
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.adobe.flex</groupId>
<artifactId>compiler</artifactId>
<version>4.5.1.21328</version>
<type>pom</type>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>

<dependencies> ... list of dependencies for building/testing ... </dependencies>
</project>

VERSIONING

Where to ﬁnd dependencies and versions?

Flexmojos

Flex framework

Others?

AUTOMATED
UNIT TESTING
Requirements

Standalone Flash Player

Add test folders and tests (Test*.as default)

Add test source location to your pom
<testSourceDirectory>src/test</testSourceDirectory>

Add Flexunit dependency to your pom
<dependency>
<groupId>com.adobe.flexunit</groupId>
<artifactId>flexunit</artifactId>
<version>4.0-rc-1</version>
<type>swc</type>
<scope>test</scope>
</dependency>

ADDING DEPENDENCIES

Not all dependencies are hosted remotely.

Some have to be installed manually via install:install-ﬁle goal.
> mvn install:install-file
-Dfile=[file]
-DgroupId=[groupId]
-DartifactId=[artifactId]
-Dversion=[version]
-Dpackaging=swc

FROM SOURCE TO IDE

Flexmojos has a goal to create Flashbuilder projects from Maven builds

Create a basic pom and source/test structure, then run the goal
> mvn org.sonatype.flexmojos:flexmojos-maven-plugin:3.9:flashbuilder

Note: when using Maven, you do not check in your .project, .settings or libs to source control. The
Flashbuilder goal will create these settings for you.

Why? Because your pom should be the deﬁnitive deﬁnition of the build - your project settings are only local to
your machine & environment.

ARCHETYPES
Maven supports beginning projects using archetypes (templates)

Flexmojos provides three main archetypes: library, application, modular application
> mvn archetype:generate
-DarchetypeRepository=http://repository.sonatype.com/content/groups/flexgroup
-DarchetypeGroupId=org.sonatype.flexmojos
-DarchetypeArtifactId=flexmojos-archetypes-application
-DarchetypeVersion=4.0-RC1

Typical prescription is the following folder structure
`-- src
|-- main
| |-- flex
| `-- resources
`-- test
|-- flex
`-- resources

Archetypes themselves are projects. You can create your own as templates for new
projects.

APPLICATIONS WITH
LIBRARIES
We can add a top-level pom with “pom” packaging

Then each artifact becomes a maven module, each with its own pom

Each Maven modules’ pom references the parent - dependencies and conﬁg will be
inherited
<parent>
<groupId>org.justinjmoses.flexmojos-introduction</groupId>
<artifactId>flexmojos-libraries</artifactId>
<version>0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
</parent>

One Maven module can depend on another - Maven will work out build order
<dependency>
<groupId>org.justinjmoses.flexmojos-introduction</groupId>
<artifactId>flexmojos-libraries-library</artifactId>
<version>${project.version}</version>
<type>swc</type>
</dependency>

GOTCHAS

Always go back to ﬁrst-principles - remove redundant code.

Keep your build script thin.

Try to reproduce outside your project - create an empty project
structure with the bare minimum to reproduce.

Check Flexmojos Google Groups.

Found a bug? It’s open source. Hone your Java skills and contribute to a
great plugin.

WHAT ELSE CAN IT DO?

Produce and optimise modular applications

Create RSLs from artifacts

Generate code coverage reports

Output asdoc documentation

Customise the build based on different settings / build environments /
sdks

Deploy as bundled WAR with HTML wrapper

RESOURCES

Code samples from today: github.com/justinjmoses

Flexmojos docs: docs.sonatype.org/display/FLEXMOJOS

Flexmojos goals and conﬁg: bitly.com/FM-4RC1-site

Flexmojos Google Groups: groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/ﬂex-
mojos

@justinjmoses

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