I am somewhat of a code fascist, I like my curly braces to be in just the right place, and don’t get me started on multiple return statements. I’m just as bad when it comes to Flex. I’ve seen too many messy mxml and ActionScript files where nothing is where you’d expect it. However, there are infinitely more strict individuals than I, some going so far as to insist on the order of attributes in tags (“id” first, always “id” first). Luckily this responsibility can now be removed from the developer to some extent, and and put in to the hands of someone like me. An Eclipse plug-in has been released that formats the mxml and ActionScript for you. it’ll make everything neat and tidy but more importantly, consistent, across developers. Download it here. then use it.

Soyatec, a French technology company, have just released Eclipse4SL, an open source plugin for Eclipse to handle Silverlight applications in Java projects. The purpose being to provide both a Silverlight development environment and greater interoperability between Silverlight and Java. Eclipse4SL works with the Eclipse IDE and Rich Client Platform, and it can be downloaded from here. Microsoft has been working with Soyatec to develop this, providing funds and technical guidance. Despite those who negatively respond to anything by Microsoft, this can only be a good thing. Anything that enables Silverlight to mature as a platform will mean that Adobe will have to respond and push Flex further.