Question

Alright, I'm confused by all the buzzwords and press release bingo going on.

• What is the relationship between flash and flex:
  • Replace flash (not really compatible)
  • Enhance flash
  • The next version of flash but still basically compatible
  • Separate technology altogether
  • ???
• If I'm starting out in Flash now, should I just skip to Flex?

Follow up

Ok, so what I'm hearing is that there's three different parts to the puzzle:

• Flash
  • The graphical editor used to make "Flash Movies", ie it's an IDE that focuses on the visual aspect of "Flash" (Officially Flash CS3?)
  • The official name for the display plugins (ie, "Download Flash Now!")
  • A general reference to the entire technology stack
  • In terms of the editor, it's a linear timeline based editor, best used for animations with complex interactivity.
• Actionscript
  • The "Flash" programming language
• Flex
  • An Adobe Flash IDE that focuses on the coding/programming aspect of "Flash" (Flex Builder?)
  • A Flash library that enhances Flash and makes it easier to program for (Flex SDK?)
  • Is not bound to a timeline (as the Flash IDE is) and so "standard" applications are more easily accomplished.

Is this correct?