What Flex Developers Ought To Know

Question

What should know the Entry Level, Mid-level, Senior Developer? Theoretical knowledge, development tools, libraries etc. What issues are usually at the interview? Do I need to know Java?

Answer 1

in additional to Bozho's answer...

At lower level

using source control

Basic skinning

Mid level

Understanding of a framework (like Mate / Robotlegs) and a collection of design patterns

Writing code that conforms to various coding standards

more advanced skinning

Using modules / libraries

Garbage collection

At higher level

Using the profiler to identify issues

Knowing when to ignore the design patterns

Being able to review others code at a high level.

Architectural design (What to actually put in those modules and libraries as well as maintaining them)

Flash Player internals

In general

In general the further up the chain you get, the more theoretical knowledge and general knowledge you have. A senior developer might have more advanced coding skills (but not necessarily), but can bring to the table a wider breadth of abilities and experience. Especially knowing when to throw the rule book away.

It definitely varies from company to company, one might value hard core coding skills in their senior developers, while another may treasure softer skills, leadership, and reviewing talents.

Answer 2

Object-oriented knowledge is a must. So good questions would be about:

• polymorphism
• inheritance
• encapsulation

Some main concepts that come to my mind:

• event handling, custom events
• invocation of server-side code
• collections
• exception handling, logging, debugging
• browser navigation support

About Java - Java knowledge is a plus on the object-oriented side, but Java experience made me expect Flex to be Java, which it isn't, and that might introduce some difficulties.