10 reasons I prefer FlashDevelop to Eclipse and FDT

I know this is well-trodden ground (e.g. FDT Vs. FlashDevelop on flashmech), but I've finally spent some time with Eclipse and FDT, and to be honest I can't really see what the fuss is about. Of course Mac users don't really have the option of using FlashDevelop (except under emulation), but for PC users, I just don't see the advantage of Eclipse. Obviously the PowerFlasher guys have done a great job on their part, but Eclipse is just too unintuitive for me.

So here's 10 reasons I prefer FlashDevelop to Eclipse:

1. FlashDevelop is free. FDT is quite expensive.
   
2. FlashDevelop starts auto-completing as soon as you start typing. In FDT you have to type "this." to get the auto-completion menu. UPDATE: Sorry, you can also press CTRL-SPACE, but it's still an extra step.
   
3. FlashDevelop automatically adds import statements. Eclipse doesn't, as far as I can see. UPDATE: I think it should have done but was badly configured on the Mac I was using.
   
4. FlashDevelop's project window automatically finds new files. In Eclipse you have to add the folder manually, then tell Eclipse it's a source folder. UPDATE: Again, this was partly due to bad configuration, but Eclipse convoluted enough to let this happen easily.
   
5. FlashDevelop projects can be moved around easily. Eclipse has confusing hidden project files.
   
6. FlashDevelop renders fast. Text in Eclipse has a delay before formatting correctly. UPDATE: This is probably down to the beat-up old Mac I was using ;)
   
7. FlashDevelop has a cute quick-find search box. I couldn't find this in Eclipse.
8. FlashDevelop has zero learning curve - I picked it up instantly. I have wrestled with Eclipse for a week and still don't feel I've cracked it.
   
9. CTRL + ENTER in FlashDevelop switches to the Flash IDE and publishes. Eclipse doesn't do this. UPDATE: Can be done with a free plug-in. Probably better to use FlexSDK and asset SWCs anyway.
   
10. CTRL + the mouse wheel changes the text-size in FlashDevelop. I had to use google just to work out how to change the font size in Eclipse!

If anyone can counter any of these points it would help me a lot, as I have to use Eclipse for the next week, so please leave comments!

Cool free and open source software for creating Flash games

You can do so much these days using only free and Open Source tools (although I couldn't surive without the Flash IDE). I've been collecting a list of the best ones - apologies to Mac users, some of these are Windows only.

1. FlashDevelop. Up there with FDT and FlexBuilder as one of the best ways to write ActionScript. I use it together with the Flash IDE (using the IDE for layout, animation and compiling), but it also works with the official free Flex SDK and with unofficial free alternatives MTASC, swfmill and haXe, so you can create Flash games without spending any money at all. If you've ever used Microsoft's excellent Visual Studio, this is the closest thing for Flash developers. FlashDevelop knows the contents of all your classes and provides amazing code completion that seems to know what you want to do before you know yourself. This also gives another good reason to use static typing if you're not already.
   
2. Paint.NET. Lots of people know that Gimp is a popular free alternative to PhotoShop, but I much prefer the simplicity and ease of use of Paint.NET - it's easily as good as PhotoShop for doing simple tasks like cropping an image. UPDATE! For a open source tool for creating vector graphics, check out Inkscape - it looks pretty handy if you don't have Illustrator or the Flash IDE. It exports SVG, which I believe you can include directly in Flex SDK projects.
   
3. Audacity - for recording and editing your game's sounds. UPDATE! To create wicked retro sound effects check out sfxr!
   
4. Blender - a powerful free alternative to 3D Studio Max and Maya. Plug-ins are available to export directly to PaperVision3D and Away3d - sweet!
5. Subversion, Tortoise SVN and WinMerge - invaluable tools for managing your source code. As a recent convert, I highly recommend you do this!
6. Easy PHP and Red 5 free server-side environments for developing high score boards and multi-user games, etc.
7. Eclipse or NetBeans - primarily Java development IDEs (useful when developing SmartFox Server extensions), they also support a range of other languages, such as PHP. The notepad days are truly over - get an IDE!
8. FileZilla - you'll want to upload your game at some point - I recommend using this!
9. Firefox. Firefox is a great place to test Flash games, thanks to useful plug-ins like FlashTracer, LiveHTTPHeaders and Tamper Data.
10. Open Office - use the word processor to spell check your instructions screen, and the spreadsheet application to count your piles of money!
    

Creative Commons image by KarraMarro

That's your lot! More open-source Flash projects can always be found at OS Flash.