Today at Web Maniacs I gave a fairly brief, short notice talk on Merapi. I had a few slides and presented a couple examples. The coolest example by far is something that Doug McCune helped me throw together. This example involves using a physics engine for Flex called Foam and Merapi to invoke the Java/C call SMS/Unimotion to read the Mac Book Pro’s accelerometer. Rob Rusher (also a speaker at Web Manics) was nice enough to shoot a video of this example:

The source code needed in the Flex app is this tag:

  <gyroscope:merapigyroscope id="gyro">

The MerapiGyroscope class has a few properties (smsX, smsY, smsZ) that are bindable and automatically updated by the Java side of Merapi.

This is sneak peak of much more cool stuff to come from the framework and I can guarantee that these libraries will be available for you to play with soon.

When I originally submitted two topics for Web Maniacs a few months ago I figured I might end up presenting one of them. Now I’m doing four.

In order of appearance:

9a, Wed: Advanced Skinning and Component Development

This session will actually be more about skinning and less about component development. After presenting this topic at 360 Flex | Atlanta I learned that the CS3 design extensions and general Flex skinning techniques are more than enough info to fill a session. I’ll be happy to answer any questions on component development, but the focus of the talk will be all the different ways to create skins. There are various pros and cons associated with each skinning method and we’ll talk a bit about those as well.

2p, Wed: The Merapi Project – A Framework for Bridging Java and AIR

I’ll be presenting some samples applications in this session and answering questions regarding the project. We’ll be entering a private alpha cycle during Web Maniacs, so this is an exciting time for Merapi. If you have an interest in how to push the boundaries of AIR to extend into Java at the desktop, come check out this session.

9a, Thu: Design Patterns and Architecture Frameworks

In this session I’ll be presenting several of the design patterns found in the classic Gamma, Helm, Johnson, and Vlissides text “Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software,” with a Flex twist. Some of these patterns appear the the Flex framework, some appear in Flex application frameworks, and some are just common patterns used in the everyday life of an OO developer. This talk is focused towards the intermediate to expert level object oriented programmer.

11a, Thu: Flex Open Source Panel Discussion

This panel discussion will include founders and contributors from various open source projects in the Flex community. I’ll introduce the panel and each project that’s represented. Then, we’ll pose some general questions about open source technology and the implications on using OS projects in your Flex applications. As we wrap up, we’ll take general questions on OS as well as specific questions for the panel regarding the projects they work on. If you’re interested in being on the panel, please contact me at adamflater at gmail dot com.

Whew… I think that’s about it. See you all in D.C. and watch my blog for assets from these talks.

thanks for reading
-adam