The number of Adobe Flex-built websites out there is growing day-by-day, which is a good thing. Below is an updated list of some of the best examples of Flex development I’ve seen to date:

1. Xuland
     http://www.xuland.com

What I like most about Xuland is that you wouldn’t immediately know that it’s a Flex/Flash site without right-clicking to see the usual Adobe context menu. Essentially, you get the benefits of Flex without the sluggish feel of some heavy Flash applications. It was completely written in Flex 4, ColdFusion and the Swiz Inversion-of-Control Framework and I think its a great example of using Adobe Flex and Flash for social networking.

Check out the official Facebook page for more info: http://www.facebook.com/xuland

2. Tour de Flex
     http://www.adobe.com/devnet-apps/flex/tourdeflex/web/

Adobe’s own AIR/Flex-based application showing off the virtues of Flex. Chocked full of code-examples, it’s a fantastic resource for anyone getting into Flex development.

3. FlexDownloads
     http://www.flexdownloads.com

Impressive. A great example of how Flex can be used to build an entire website with a shopping cart. Flex can be used for a wide variety of applications, not just dashboard widgets.

What I like the most about this site is the speed. Click on a country and the zoom happens quickly. No lag, or jittery transitions.

4. TweetDeck
     http://www.tweetdeck.com/

Originally an Adobe AIR application, TweetDeck interfaces with Twitter and other social networks to create a one-stop shop for updating your status and profile. They’ve not extended their application to reach iPhone, iPad and Android users.

5. IBM’s ILOG Elixir World Factbook Dashboard
     http://visunetdemos.demos.ibm.com/blogsamples/factbook2/FactBookSE.html

6. Brightcove Studio
     http://www.brightcove.com/

Although you have to sign up for the free 30 day trial in order to view the Studio application, once you do you’ll immediately see the extent to which Flex can be used for something as technical and comprehensive as online video publishing and distribution.

7. Photoshop.com
     https://www.photoshop.com/

Amazing example of using Flex to re-create Adobe’s best known image editor.

8. New York Times Reader
     http://timesreader.nytimes.com/timesreader/index.html

Times Reader 2.0 is powered by Adobe AIR and is a great example of using Adobe Flex as a rendering engine for an online news reader.

9. ChessJam
     https://chessjam.com

ChessJam is an online chess application written using a variety of Adobe technologies (ColdFusion, Flex, AIR and LCDS) and is a fantastic example of using Flex for online interactive gaming.

10. Mini Cooper USA Configurator
     http://miniusa.com/#/build/configurator/mini-m

Excellent example of an RIA application that doesn’t look like your typical RIA application. Most Flex applications are notorious for using the default styles and themes provided in the Flex SDK. Mini Cooper’s custom car configurator is a nice example of maximizing the Flex framework without using any of its default look and feel.

11. 24 Hour Fitness Member Services Online
     http://www.24hourfitness.com

Again, I built this for 24 Hour Fitness a couple of years ago. It’s very simple in its design, but the entire thing was developed using Flex 3 & Cairngorm and the original objective was to blend into 24 Hour Fitness’s website as seamlessly as possible.

For a larger showcase of Flex Examples, check out Adobe’s own showcase:

Adobe Flex Showcase
     flex.org

Have another example? Write me!