Use data services wizard or not in flash builder 4 (advice)

Question

Hi,
I have been playing and reading a lot about how to use the new data service connection wizard  for data centric management in flash buidler 4.
I'm facing now some problems, first, the files it is generating is somehow complex for me, and it seems I can't add new operations just stick to the ones it uses (documentation states the operations that must be defined to make everything work (addItem,etc...)). On the other hand, I had a little php system I used in flex builder 3 to have just only one file in the server that using reflexion could serve differnt kinds of data to the data services, now, I think I can't use them because It doesn't follow "operation names". As an example, for the getItem, I pass the VO type taht will be used, etc...
Some pros/contrs:
Using wizards
1) Everything is ready to use in seconds.
2) Forms can be generated automatically.
3) Best aproach to do things (I guess, if adobe people is doint it this way it is because it is the best way to do it)
Without wizards
1) No time trying to undestand the cryptic generated files.
2) Free to use any signature to calll from the services (Not just stick to addItem, updateItem, etc... with predefined signature.
3) Less server files floating around (if you like me do some kind of reflection on the service files, to share operations for any type you need).
Well, perhaps I could be totally wrong, but it is a bit of a pain for me to get into CDM, could anyone bring some light, confirming for exampel that new operations can be added easily, etc...?
Thanks in advance,
Aron.

Answer 1

hi,
DCD is currently in its infancy and suffers from a lack of features you might find in more mature tools of this nature. In its current form I think its a great tool for rapid prototyping and as it matures may also be a great tool for enterprise development.  I am sure as Adobe work with feedback they get from the community these wizards etc.. will get much better.
So that leaves you with the choice of staying with what you are familiar with or putting the effort into become familiar with DCD and using it to its maximum abilities then pushing it a bit further. Its now a part of the environment and its not going to disappear so its wise to at least become familiar with its useability so you don't get left behind as it does improve.
At the moment it does a lot of the minding numbing work of setting up connections preparing client side and server side scripting for basic crud operations and in many simple cases this will be enough.
You can update services with you own code and DCD will generate the client side code for you (VO's etc)  you just need to guide DCD as to send and return types.  In a lot of cases you can reuse the value objects generated for your extended services (for instance you have a client table that you create a filter for you just tell dcd its the same type as a select from client and when it generates your client code it knows how to type results etc.)
Experts will never be happy with wizards, the code is not as optimal as hand written code and sometimes confusing to maintain. For those getting into development of backend communication the DCD will help them immensely, and hopefully guide them to best practises when it comes to how you should structure everything.
Is it ready for large scale application ?, thats not my call to make(but it's not ready yet ), I will use DCD if I think it can do the job without to much from me otherwise the old tried and true methods will be applied. My expectation is that the DCD will become more powerful and as it does I will be ready to use it on a more frequent basis. For now I still concentrate most my efforts on the 'old way' but won't ignore and the value it can bring to the development cycle.
David