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From: "Glenn Williams" <info@tinylion.co.uk>
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Subject: RE: Falcon update
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2012 22:44:31 +0100
Organization: tinylion
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Thanks and hello

Im amazed and really pleased to hear that so much mxml work has already been
done

I was thinking we'd be starting from scratch

Great news!

g

-----Original Message-----
From: Gordon Smith [mailto:gosmith@adobe.com] 
Sent: 13 July 2012 21:53
To: flex-dev@incubator.apache.org
Cc: Peter Farland
Subject: Falcon update

Greetings, Apache Flex community!

Some of you already know me from my previous work on the Flex SDK (beginning
with Flex 1.0), and my occasional comments on this list regarding the
architecture of the Falcon compiler that Adobe has been developing for the
last two years.

I've been watching as you put the finishing touches on the 4.8.0 parity
release. Congratulations on being close!

I've also been working hard for the last several months to get Falcon ready
to donate to Apache. The ActionScript functionality is complete except for
integrating last-minute bugfixes that we continue to make in our mainline.
I'd estimate the MXML functionality as being 85% complete. As you know,
after Adobe's refocused its priorities last fall, we froze the MXML work to
concentrate on completing ActionScript to shipping quality, but the MXML
support hasn't regressed. As an example, Falcon can compile the SDK's
non-trivial CheckinApp test, except for the Repeater tag.

The main things left before donation are revising the build script to meet
Apache standards and satisfying Adobe's Legal department. I can't make any
predictions on a donation date, but things seem to be moving along nicely.
We'll donate various test suites later; they require more legal scrutiny
than the code does.

After donation, I'll be working on Apache Falcon one day a week as an Adobe
employee. My goal will be to get Falcon to the point where it can compile
the Flex SWCs and then compile Mustella tests that link against those SWCs,
run, and pass. I'll also be happy to work on high-priority bugs that the
community identifies, such as when you try Falcon out on your own apps and
find compilation problems. But I will helping to reach parity with the old
compiler, not with evolving Falcon in entirely new directions. Of course,
you are free to do that! (I'd suggest doing it on a branch until we reach
parity.)

The areas of Falcon that need the most work are

* states (mostly implemented)
* databinding (partly implemented)
* reporting MXML semantic problems (partly implemented)
* Repeater (not implemented)
* ASDoc (not implemented)

I'll be concentrating primarily on the first two in order to reach the goal
I mentioned. I hope that some of you will be interested in working on Falcon
so that it reaches its potential.

I ask for your understanding as I come up to speed on Apache procedures and
standards.

Gordon Smith, Adobe compiler team