I’m pretty much sure that you must have heard (and talked) a lot about how the next big thing (after desktop.. and Micro$oft’s humongous success in that arena) would be taking desktop applications to web (and many of you would be in a queue to purchase Google shares for too-too-too-much price) and there are tangible examples to quote, for example, Google docs (formerly Writely, acquired by Google), Google Spreadsheets, Google Presentation etcetera.
No, no. Don’t think that I mistyped the title. It’s alright.
What am I upto?
A pathbreaking technology from Adobe, AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) is all about taking Rich Internet Applications (RIA) to Desktops i.e. having a desktop application which will communicate with web and deliver rich content right there. Adobe website says:
Adobe® AIR™ lets developers use their existing web development skills in HTML, AJAX, Flash and Flex to build and deploy rich Internet applications to the desktop.
This is a cross platform technology and an application written for MS Windows will work with Linux platform. No migration (read porting) required. Don’t see any released development support for Linux though. I will keep posted.
What do you need to get started?
- Install Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) on your machine
- Install AIR SDK
- Install Flex Builder for your platform (if development is going to be in Flex i.e. MXML and Action Script).
- Read tutorials on how to develope RIAs for desktops in your favorite language (HTML (using Ajax), Flash, Flex etcetera)
I’ve started with AIR application development and am hooked to it (as I’m to most technologies I try out), you should also get your hands wet once with it and I’m sure you gonna love it. (Affiliation: I’m employed with Adobe Systems).
AIR Showcase. Adobe Labs. Adobe Flex
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Filed under: AIR, Adobe, Apollo, Internet, RIA, Technology | Tagged: Adobe, Adobe Labs, AIR, Apollo, Desktop, Flex, Flex Builder, RIA, SDK, Technology
