The last month since Degrafa Origin was released out into the wild has definitely been an interesting one. Attention to the framework has popped up in a number of ways and in a variety of languages. From questions to interest, adoption to experiments, and a couple of cool contests. This is clearly evidence that the community has been waiting for the abilities to create and manipulate graphics directly within Flex, whether with Degrafa or any other solution. So far, there have been 1,300 downloads of the SWC (who knows how many using the source) and the feedback has been great. Here’s a few links to some Degrafa “buzz”:ï¾ 

Get a job developing with Degrafa
ï¾ 
Post by Ryan Stewart

ï¾ Post by Doug McCune
ï¾ 
Some User Examples:
http://alivepdf.bytearray.org/?p=11
http://ccgi.arutherford.plus.com/blog/wordpress/?p=156

360|Flex API Contest

ï¾ As a team, we have goals and features in mind for Degrafa, but a big part of it is what we think the community wants too. A list of feature requests has started being compiled on the Degrafa Google Code “Issues” page and we’d love for people to vote for and suggest what they’d like to see in Degrafa, no matter how big or small the feature may be. Any ideas are welcome and you can get a hold of us through email, the Degrafa Google Group or on Google Code.

ï¾ We want to keep adding features to Degrafa that will push it to be more of a declarative “design” framework, rather than focusing on the initial graphics capabilities that started this whole project in the beginning. This means adding things like layout managers, but also building on what’s already there, so you can do more with less code.

ï¾ Hopefully, this will get to a point where you won’t need external tools like Illustrator or Flash to create the typically static assets for a Flex UI, and make the power of programmatic capabilities more accessible at the MXML level. If their are external tools for Degrafa, we’re hoping they’ll be open-source, built in Flex, and have the source available. We know it’s an ambitious undertaking, especially when everyone on the team maintains a full-time job.ï¾ 

We mentioned your entries might come in handy for something (besides the Degrafa Derby) being announced soon. Well, that something is the 360|Flex API Contest and you can use your Degrafa Derby entry for the Community category of the API contest.

The prize to the winner of the 360|Flex contest gets a PlayStation 3, which means you could really clean up if you win both contests. There are also prizes for usage of the Ribbit and Ebay APIs. The official contest site for the 360|Flex API contest will be up soon.

Get more info about the 360|Flex API Contest

We’re happy to announce Jim Cheng as an addition to the Degrafa Team. Jim is a seasoned Flex/AJAX developer with a strong background in data structures and algorithms. He augments the Degrafa team with years of experience in performance optimization and file format parsers. Jim looks forward to improving the core framework as well as contributing new features.

As more developers dig into the Degrafa framework and provide feedback for new features and the broadening of current features, Jim is a welcomed addition to the team. He’ll be helping us out with core framework and helping us tackle some great new features we have planned for the next major release. We feel we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg of what this framework may be capable of.

Just as a reminder, you can log issues and enhancements concerning the framework at Google Code location. Thanks to everyone who has provided us feedback so far and kept us on our toes with questions.

The Degrafa Derby is out in full force and we’ve already started to see some really cool stuff being created. In many ways they’ve exceeded what we even thought the framework was capable of. As news of the Degrafa Derby has spread, some other supporters have offered to kick in some additional prizes, in addition to the initial Flex Builder 3 license.

Ryan Stewart is pitching in a choice of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium OR Web Premium out of his own pocket to support the contest. He likes where the framework is going and wanted to help out. Doug McCune has offered up a hand-bedazzled 360|Flex Shirt based on his “alternate” rendition of the 360|Flex badge. Who wouldn’t want that? Lastly, the winner of the Degrafa Derby will also receive a free ticket (or reimbursement) to 360|Flex Atlanta courtesy of John Wilker and Tom Ortega.

So, the final prize tally for the winner of the Degrafa Derby Contest:

• Flex Builder 3 License
• Choice of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium OR Web Premium
• A hand-bedazzled 360|Flex Shirt
• Ticket to 360|Flex Atlanta

By the way, you might find your entry useful for something else being announced very soon. Thanks everyone, for pitchin’ in the sweet prizes. The support has been amazing. You have until February 22nd to submit your entries. Get more information here.

On a side note, you can follow Degrafa on Twitter for updates and such.

Just wanted to do a quick post to let everyone who’s interested know that the Degrafa source code is now available on Google Code. Go grab it, use it, critique it, add to it or whatever you want. Ignore the typos and rough documentation .

Be sure to log any issues you might have along the way. You can do that on the Issue Tracking page on Google Code.

Get the Degrafa Source Code

With Degrafa at over 200 downloads in the first 24 hours we thought we’d propose a challenge for those of you beginning to get familiar with the framework. We’re opening up a contest for the coolest thing created in Degrafa.

The deadline is February 23rd. The prizes are listed below. Also, since there will be a session about Degrafa at 360|Flex Atlanta, the winning submission will be included as a part of the presentation (credits included of course).

ï¾ We understand the Degrafa framework is still in flux, so we’re giving a fair amount of time to compensate for the additions and refinements that are currently underway. The source will be up soon as well for those of you who’d like to get your hands dirty in the code.

ï¾ So what are we looking for? Well, anything. If you need some ideas, you might want to consider looking at the discussion board. Other than that, there’s plenty of things we’ve talked about doing, but we’re busy putting the finishing touches on the framework.

ï¾ Here’s some other ideas:

• Add to the library of static or dynamic shapesï¾ 
• Add or suggest a feature
• A Degrafa Explorer
• Creating a set of skins
• A series of gauges
• Data visualization
• Artistic Exploration
• Contributing to the project
• Tying into Kuler

ï¾ 
Although some of these ideas may be a bit more involved for a Flex license, we don’t want to hold anyone back . Go nuts! Oh, and if you’re the only one who submits, guess what? You win! Oh, and we’re working on getting some more prizes, so stay tuned!

Special thanks to Adobe, 360|Conferences, Ryan Stewart and Doug McCune for providing the prizes.

Prizes

The winning entry will receive:

• Flex Builder 3 License
• Choice of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium OR Web Premium
• A hand-bedazzled 360|Flex Shirt
• Ticket to 360|Flex Atlanta (or reimbursement)

“Terms”

Deadline: February 22nd

We would prefer that whatever is entered into the contest becomes open for others to learn from and see the power of Degrafa. If that is not possible, then the judges must have proof that the entry did indeed use Degrafa.

Entry Submission: Send a link or code of your entry to derby [at] degrafa [dot] com.

Questions: Any questions concerning the Degrafa Derby can be sent to derby [at] degrafa [dot] com.ï¾ 

It’s hard to believe that what started as a casual email exchange between fellow developers would evolve into what we’re releasing today. That’s right, the Degrafa beta is finally here! We’re calling this initial beta Degrafa Origin (for obvious reasons) and we hope it will be the first in a series. There’s a huge amount of features that we want to add, but we opted to get something out there before 2010 and get some feedback.

Release Notes

• You can get the SWC from Google Code. We’ll be making the source available in the next couple days. We were pushing to get it out today, but with the holiday schedule it wasn’t happening.
• Check out the documentation at docs.degrafa.com. We’ll be updating the documentation throughout the week.
• View samples at samples.degrafa.com. We’ll be adding more samples in the next few days/weeks.
• Get in on the discussions on the Degrafa Google Group.

We’ll continue to add to all these areas in the coming days and weeks. We welcome any feedback, feature requests, “what the hell” inquiries and the like. It’ll only make the framework better.

Some parts of the framework are still rough around the edges and we hope to smooth those out over the next few weeks. ï¾ Here are some items we hope to release/complete in the coming weeks/months:

• Transformations
• Tons of skinning improvements
• Layout management
• Improved and complete documentation
• Many, many more great examples to get you up and running
• An SVG to Degrafa conversion tool and all round better SVG support
• Optimization improvements
• Several other features that will make Degrafa more valuable

ï¾ 

Stay tuned for more to come and be sure to hone your Degrafa skills, as they may come in handy very soon.

Special Thanks

The Degrafa team would like to extend a huge thank you to the folks over at Effective UI for graciously providing Degrafa a welcome home during it’s inception. We would also like to thank the beta testers: Dirk, Dominique, Ken, and Nahuel.

ï¾ 

Also, we’d like to thank people at Adobe, including Ely Greenfield, Glenn Ruehle and Ted Patrick for sharing their thoughts with us along the way. We look forward to the further advancements of graphics related work within the Flex framework and hope to be a part of efforts in this area.

ï¾