Can anyone make a detailed comparison of these IDEs (I can't find any)? Which would you recommend for what, etc.?
I need a good IDE for flash and flex. I know for example both have permormance profilers, and testing tools, both are very expensive, etc. Is one of them "better" or more suitable for certain cases, which ones?
I don't have time to test trials (anyways as far as I know FDT max doesn't have a trial, only limited free version).
FDT has only either 'Max' or 'Free', so it's a little tricky to compare it to a tiered approach like FB, which has a standard and premium.
I'll start with the more general differences of FDT vs FB then go to specifically about FDT Max and FB Premium.
Fast Parser
The biggest difference between the two is that FDT has a very fast parser which detects not only errors in real time, but multiple errors at the same time. A video of this is action can be found here. Flash Builder does not have this and requires you to save (compile) your project to get error updates. This won't be an issue for small projects, but once you have 20+ files, this will really cripple your workflow.
Update: FB now uses it's compiler for error detection, making it's error detection very close in features to FDT.
Quick Fixes / Assists & Refactorings
Other features include tons of quick fixes and quick assists (FDT has ~30-35 , FB has ~5-10) and advanced refactorings such as Extract Constant and Extract Method - videos on that can be see here.
'Not Adobe' & Customizing
One last, and for some significant difference, is that the FDT is very public and easy to contact / interact with. I used to know the members of the FB team; however, since FB development and management moved out of San Francisco, I don't know the team anymore.
FDT will also allow developers to extend FDT by building their own plugins using Flash. This is very big and is as yet unannounced feature to be released very, very soon
MXML Code Completion
One plus of FB over FDT is that it has better Flex code completion. While not significantly better, if you're a full time Flex developer and need a very robust MXML code completion, it is better in FB.
However, since Adobe is no longer developing the Flex Framework, who knows how this will change in the future.
Integration With Other Adobe Products
FB has more code creation wizards for things like Zend PHP setups and a WYSIWIG Flex editor; however, Adobe will no longer support the Flex WYSIWIG editor after FB 4.6. This is because they have stopped development of the Flex framework.
FB has some Flash Professional integration. Adobe has made some buttons that allow you to automatically switch and compile between FB and Flash Professional.
Better Library Building
One nice feature that some like about FB over FDT is the workflow for creating library SWCs. If you are someone like Jack Doyle (Tweenlite) FB has a nice GUI that allows you to exclude certain packages from SWC generation.
Besides the general differences, FDT Max is less expensive than FB and FDT will soon offer a subscription option. FDT Max also comes with 'Max Support' which means that you can contact the QA lead directly if you have any problems. This also can lead to direct communication the developers.