By turning on various blogs (thanks Frank) and through discussions with Julius, I realized that in addition to the extreme interest in Adobe AIR, there is also much confusion, and with good reason. Both developers that users continue to not be clear what it is, what for and how it develops in Adobe AIR. I decided therefore to collect the various discussions in this sort of FAQ to try to clear a bit 'what is actually hiding behind Adobe AIR.

WHAT '- Simply put - Adobe AIR?

We can summarize Adobe AIR in this way:

• Performs all the functions of a standard Internet browser, like Internet Explorer or Firefox, but without the restrictions relating to the safety of the latter! Giving full access to both the machine on which it is installed to its own environment considered as a container and then Window.

AIR applications (files with a. AIR) MUST BE INSTALLED ON PC TO BE USED?

Yes! Just as you would with a "normal" application. In fact, after installation, the application will appear in the list of installed programs, just like Word, Skype and other common executables. Before installing AIR application, however, you must install the "system" or environment that can recognize and process the file with. air. You must then install, once, Adobe AIR runtime. Since that time we will be able to install and use the AIR application.
The installation of an AIR application, as in appearance, differs from the standard - we are used to - just because the tool used to perform the installation is different and very content nell'Adobe AIR runtime. But the functions are exactly the same place!

I download a particular version of Air for my operating system?

When you install the environment the first time (Adobe AIR runtime) you can choose the download according to your system: Mac or PC. AIR applications, however, precisely because the environment is installed, are "unique" work on any operating system that has previously installed Adobe AIR runtime (currently Mac and Windows - Linux in the future and more).

AIR applications are light and fast?

No! No way. The "weight" of an application, among other things, can not be measured by the size of the file. Air (among other things, this is a discourse in general also valid for the common application exe). First of all there is a lightweight application for "definition". As with the normal desktop applications, AIR applications, there will be "heavy" and AIR applications to "read", according to their function and also depending on how you have developed (such as HTML / Javascript or Flash / Flex) . Furthermore, the installation file. ... Compressed air are the packages! Finally do not forget that when we run an application that works through the AIR Runtime (Adobe AIR runtime - that installed the first time) that, ultimately, is also a "program" that takes up space and resources.

The speed is the same thing! In principle, however, any application "native" will be inevitably more "rapid" one AIR application! (see next FAQ about development languages).

HOW TO DEVELOP an Adobe AIR application?

There are several ways to develop Adobe AIR application, whether for a fee or free. In time it will also be new, most likely.

Those in charge are:

• Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 + Extended (free)
• Adobe Flash CS3 Professional + extension (free)
• Adobe Flex

Those are free (there are others):

• Aptana IDE + extension
• Eclipse + extension

Whatever your choice will still be necessary:

• Install Adobe AIR runtime
• Install Adobe AIR SDK
• Then, depending on what you choose, you must install the extensions on the environment (eg Aptana IDE has an extension to develop in AIR) with the likely REQUEST to install Java (more run-time ...).

What programming languages should I know TO DEVELOP IN Adobe AIR?

One of the strengths of Adobe AIR is not to own a liguaggio proprietary programming! AIR is to develop an application or need to know HTML / Javascript or Actionscript. Basically if you're Web developers will find very easy to write AIR applications, being able to - in effect - even reuse the code that you have already written (or HTML / Javascript or Flash) for other applications. AIR also being a real browser, just like FireFox or IE, you can develop in JavaScript with all the tools written for this language, as Prototype.js, scriptaculous.js, Dojo, Yahoo UI, jQuery, etc ...

What's new - THEREFORE - IN THE AIR application development?

As we said Adobe AIR is in effect a browser! Precisely for this can be developed in HTML / CSS / Javascript and Flash (who knows, tomorrow it could also support Microsoft Silverlight - if someone finds it ) Without any problem. What changes is the addition of an extension (the object air - a real libreira of "special" objects), accessible from both JavaScript and ActionScript, which lets you do all those features normally absent - both Javascript in Actionscript - as tools and languages used for an Internet browser.

For example, JavaScript makes it impossible to read the contents of a folder on our harddisk. With the extension air you can write a Javascript code that you browse a folder on our HD and that opens a file!

WHY 'should write an application in Adobe AIR?

AIR application makes sense when you take advantage of the extensions provided by AIR itself. If we turn (without any addition) a Web application in AIR, this is really insignificant. The application BlogBabel Rank in AIR that I wrote, for example, is useless because it does not perform any operations Desktop vital and could work perfectly in a browser - many of whom I intend to do ! I've obviously written as an example, but someone has done things like thinking about who knows what benefits derive ...

Paradoxically, however, that "silly" rules that simulates firing on the computer screen (Adobe AIR: sparariamo screen) uses some properties unique to Adobe AIR! property is not reproducible in a normal browser: type in a fullscreen transparency (window-less/topmost)!

What features' WE ARE IN NEW DEVELOPMENT WITH ADOBE AIR?

There are various and, most likely, over time it will be also added new ones, as they will release new version of the Adobe AIR runtime. Among the features most important to strike:

• Read and write files on your computer
• Managing a SQL database you can use to manipulate local data
• Desktop Window Manager with a number of interesting features such as transparency, the ability to iconify the taskbar or the tray-icon, possibility of manipulating the position and size, creation of special windows with no title or borders.
• Viewing PDF

CONTRAINDICATIONS sticking point is?

First of all, for developers, set the development environment for Adobe AIR takes a few steps rather articulated! Well, apart from Flex, the rest of the environment must be set properly and that takes time and patience!

There are still some important differences between the possibilities offered by Adobe AIR, depending on the type of development environment you choose. Surely Flex contains more advanced functions (such as JPEG compression for bitmap and save the entire library mx.) And this undermines the work of many developers Javascript and Flash. In practice, it forces the programmer to adopt Flex! And this is not nice!

Related Post

• Reborn items undolog.com (2)
• Adobe AIR: the misunderstood (0)
• Adobe AIR 1.0, Adobe Flex 3.0 and the new Adobe Open Source (0)
• Developing Adobe AIR applications with Aptana IDE (5)
• Net Software (0)

Was this article helpful?:

Loading ...