Recently I started working on a project using Flex 4 Gumbo, the Adobe MAX preview version. One of the first things I noticed was that in Flex 4 there is now an option to create either a ‘new folder’ or a ‘new package’, whereas in Flex 3 the only option was to create a ‘new folder’. In both versions there is a little symbol consisting of a square with crosshairs through it. In Flex 3 that used to appear in the corner of some folders while in Flex 4 that is the symbol used to represent some packages and symbols (I’m still not clear on the usage of this symbol).

So what’s the difference between a package and a folder in Gumbo? Flex 3 never made such a distinction, although it seems the option was there in Eclipse. They seem like the same thing to me but there are distinct menu options for it now. No one I’ve asked so far really seems to know. I read in the Gumbo migration doc about the Flex File Browser being replaced with the Flex Package Explorer, and the new option for hierarchical display vs. logical flat view, but still don’t see the significance of a package vs. a folder besides terminology…