“Legacy” Flash Applications

I haven't heard or read anybody using the term before, but that's what I've started calling applications built using any version of Flash older than MX. No offense intended to those who may still using Flash 5, or Flash 5 ActionScript syntax for that matter, but attention to best practices can't be stressed enough. Applications' maintenance is always a pain, specially when source files were modified for the last time on May 2001.

I got a contract to update an old and (fortunately) not to big application, which was created using Flash 5 and put to service almost three years ago. Most of the functionality is still working, but from some time now, some things have started to break, according to the client. After a couple of hours of source files scrutiny, I came to the conclusion that it would be faster and better to just redo everything from scratch. "Duh!" would you say, of course it would be easier to start over and build that sucker with what we have at hands today, and I would agree; the thing is I could have probably updated this particular piece if the source files weren't such a mess! I wish I could show you...

So, it's not only about the Flash version, is about how our development practices have been evolving throughout the years. Probably most entry-level developers weren't aware of proposed best practices and standards 2 or 3 years ago, or they just weren't interested (or able) to plan ahead and build something that wouldn't be a pain in the neck to maintain. This is not the first time I find myself in a similar situation, but most certainly is the most outstanding: mixed syntax, code unnecessarily scattered all along the timelines, no reuse of elements, etc.

It took a little more talking that I expected but the client finally agreed to my proposition, after showing them the guts of their source files. I guess it isn't too easy to accept that you spent a lot of money on something poorly done, and that it barely made it to the next cycle.