Yesterday on Flashcoders there was some discussion about the increased file-size of the new Screens feature found in Flash 2004. I believe this will be something that some people will initially be worried about. People will wonder if Screens and Components are worth it when they bloat our precious file-size.

The beauty of the new components is that it is very efficient in reusing classes. The first component that you place on your stage will have a high impact on the file-size compared to what we are used to in Flash MX, but every additional component afterwards adds a marginal amount to the final file-size.

Here are some numbers:

Button component alone: 26KB
Empty Form based Application: 27KB
Form based application with a button component: 34KB
Form based application with a button, combo-box, and text input components: 38KB
Form based application with all 21 UI Components available in pro: 125KB