Brevity reborn. Introducing "Bloom"

A couple of years ago (has it really been that long?) I was working on a project called “Brevity“. The idea behind this was a simplified language for creating AS3 experimental movies. The idea was to provide a simple syntax and IDE. Brevity code would be converted to real AS3 classes and be compiled with MXMLC. It was essentially “Processing for Flash”.

I was doing this in Python at the time, and got pretty far. Using wxPython for the UI, I was able to achieve Mac and Windows versions with native UIs and was able to launch MXMLC as an external process, and then launch the generated SWF. I had working versions for both platforms and mainly needed to add functionality with new AS3 class libraries. One of the big problems though was the dependencies on Python and wxPython. These had to be installed on the end user’s machine. So I went about creating standalone executables with py2exe and py2app. The Windows version went fairly smoothly but I was struggling with the Mac version. Then I heard about this thing called “Apollo”. Seemed to be just what I needed. Unfortunately, the early builds did not allow you to launch an external process. But I was sure that would come soon, so I sat tight. And waited. And waited. And finally AIR was released without this functionality. I know, I know, I could use a socket server, blah blah blah, but the idea was to make it simple. Simple build, simple install, simple launch, simple language, simple compile and run. Anyway, I got involved with a million other things and Brevity got thrown in the basement next to the old exercise equipment and singing fish plaque.

Then, a little while ago, Jarrad Hope contacted me and asked if he could revive pieces of Brevity as a new project. I said sure, and now we have Bloom!

Bear in mind, this is a 0.2 alpha right now. I had an earlier version running, but this one is throwing some exception for me at the moment on Mac. (the latest download is working fine.) It uses Haxe as its compiler rather than MXMLC, so you’ll have to install that too but that comes packaged with Bloom and does NOT need to be installed. Know that I don’t have any hand in the development of progress of this project, so if you have any questions, suggestions, complaints, or want to send cash, contact Jarrad directly.

Anyway, I wish the best to Jarrad and Bloom. Keep an eye on it. I think it’s going to be very cool. I’ve always felt like starting a project was like having a kid. You nurture it and help it grow and soon it takes on a life of its own. In this case, Bloom is more like a grandchild. It has its own parents to take care of it and look after it, but it’s still nice to know I had something to do with it. 🙂