Flex Application Framework: PureMVC vs Mate, which is better in productivity

Question

I am trying to develop several small machine(such as a ic-m700pro) simulator in flex. I have been read document and tried in both PureMVC and Mate, each for two day. I don't have experience enough to choose the right one. I just want to develop fast.

So which is more productive? PureMVC or Mate, please give me advice.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

It all depends on what you mean by productivity and what you want to achieve of course.
For your use cases it might even be more productive to use no framework at all.

In my experience, using a framework has certain benfits like

• Increasing maintenance productivity
• Increasing interchangability of developers
• Structuring projects in a proven manner
• Eliminating the need for a lot of boiler plate code
• Easier for working in a team of developers

Comparing frameworks is always a bit specific to the project and your needs. There really is no right or wrong.

However I can give you some pointers

1. I would advise you to not use Mate.
   
   It is mxml based only and could give you a lot of problems with performance if you do not know what is going on behind the scenes. In my opinion, the code you write with this framework will be a maintenance nightmare.

2. PureMVC is great and will give you more control and will increase code maintainability.
   However it does come with the additional overhead classes.
   The documentation is awesome and there is a solid community.

3. I could really advise you to look into Robotlegs or Swiz.
   They both are both very solid frameworks that have a quite similar feature set. Both are quite similar to PureMVC, but they also feature an IOC container. These frameworks are very mature, have great documentation and great communities.

Also, check these out:

• http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/articles/flex_framework.html
• http://www.richardlord.net/blog/flexcaster-robotlegs