Flex 4 ACE Certification

1. Creating a User Interface (UI):

• Identify and describe the basic UI controls used in a Flex application.(UI controls include:NumericStepper, TextInput, CheckBox, RadioButton).
• Identify the purpose of UI containers and when to use them. (UI containers include: Group,SkinnableContainer, Application)
• Change the look and feel of a design by using API styles, style sheets, Spark skins, filters and blends, and visual customizations by using Halo.
• Dynamically change the look of an application by using Spark view states, transitions and effects.
• Position UI elements by using constraint-based layout.
• Implement application navigation by using navigator containers.
• Customize list-based controls. (Customizing includes: using editors, renderers, label functions)
• Given a layout type, explain the differences and when to use that layout type.(Layout types include: percentage based, constraints based, and custom)
• Create a custom layout. (Including understanding the differences between container and layout)

2. Flex system architecture and design:

• Create and use custom components by using MXML and ActionScript.
• Transfer data within an MXML component by using data bindings. (Including two way binding)
• 
  

  Create, handle, and dispatch events, including developer created event classes that extend the Event class.
• Identify and describe the implementation and purpose of common software design patterns that are used in Flex. (Design patterns include: Observer, Command, and Data transfer) 
• Understand the skinning architecture and the role of the SkinnableContainer class.
• Given a method in the component lifecycle explain the purpose of and when to use that method. (Methods include: CreateChildren, UpdateDisplayList)
• Explain how modules are used in the development of a Flex application.
• Explain the use case and development workflow for building a custom preloader.

3. Programming Flex applications with ActionScript:

• Define and extend an ActionScript class.
• Implement an ActionScript interface.
• Use access modifiers with classes and class members.
• Implement data transfer objects.
• Implement accessor methods in ActionScript. (Methods include: explicit and implicit getter and setter)
• Use an ArrayCollection to sort, filter, and provide data.
• Implement data validation.
• Manipulate XML data by using E4X. extends the Event class, call super(),override clone())
• Implement events that function properly in the Flex event framework. (Including: extends the Event class, call super(), override clone()) 

4. Interacting with data sources and servers: 

• Implement real-time messaging by using producers and consumers.
• Explain the importance of and implement data paging on data sets.
• Understand synchronization and online/offline use cases using data management.
• Interact with remote data and services by using Remote Procedure Call (RPC) services.(Services include: HTTPService, WebService, RemoteObject, URLRequest)
• Read, write, and upload local files from the local file system by using Flash Player 10 API.(Including: the use of file filters) 

5. Using Flex in the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR): 

• Given a scenario, compile and export a release build of an AIR application. (Scenarios include: Using Flex Builder, from the command line)
• Create, populate, and delete files and directories on a local file system.
• Create and customize native windows and menus.
• Adding drag-and-drop functionality to and from the desktop.
• Install, uninstall, and update an AIR application.
• List and describe the AIR security contexts.
• Create, connect to, and define a local database.
• Add, update, and remove records from local database.