modules in adobe flex/air applications

While working on the WidgetCircles™ PersonalMediaBook™ I learned the hard way the benefit of modules. I hadn’t previously done much reading about modules and I wasn’t familiar with them. However as the project grew the compilation times increased dramatically and my productivity sank. I later ran across a website that described modules and their usage. I was too close to my release date to risk destabilizing the code base in an effort to retrofit the project with modules but i’ve since used them eagerly.

I now include thinking about module use during the planning process before I write any code. With careful forethought I can use the power and efficiency of modules to keep my software modular and keep compilation times down.

An Adobe explanation of modules can be found here:

One caveat to modules is they can’t be stored in different packages but rather have to be in the root of the src folder along with the main application.mxml. This applies to AIR applications at least. I hope in the future Adobe can change this so I can keep my modules in different packages.