Recently in Programming Category
Adobe has officially released the long-awaited AIR runtime environment.
Being a frequent developer/user of Flash applications, this was pretty
exciting news for me. I haven't had a chance to do much more than
download the updates for CS3, but everything I've read/seen looks great. Most of the applications
that I've tried so far have been fairly impressive, and even though
none of them reach the full potential of AIR, they've suggested some
interesting possibilities.
The platform offers the same ease of Flash when it comes to interface design and animation, but it takes the programming side up a notch, providing deeper functionalities previously reserved for more traditional and formal languages like C++ and Java. For one, AIR applications have the ability to read/write/modify on the local file system, which, as one application has already demonstrated, allows for interesting things like pulling information from the contents of your iTunes library. AIR applications can also create and manipulate native windows and menus, add items to the system tray and dock, build local MySQLite databases, make network connections, and communicate with other clients through network connections. These functionalities aren't anything new, of course, but this is the first time that they've been so simple to implement and allowed for such a powerful and easy-to-build front-end.
Below is a brief overview provided by Lee Brimelow, creator of gotoAndLearn.com. It outlines some of the new functionalities introduced by AIR and demonstrates how simple they are to utilize.
Having limited experience with the technology, I can't say for sure, but I expect AIR to become hugely popular in the near future. Highly aesthetic, fairly powerful applications will be much easier to produce than in the past. These programs will be light-weight, fast to install, and completely cross-platform. We'll still need the more traditional languages for more intense, highly computational games and applications, but for small to medium-sized needs, AIR may be the new standard.
The platform offers the same ease of Flash when it comes to interface design and animation, but it takes the programming side up a notch, providing deeper functionalities previously reserved for more traditional and formal languages like C++ and Java. For one, AIR applications have the ability to read/write/modify on the local file system, which, as one application has already demonstrated, allows for interesting things like pulling information from the contents of your iTunes library. AIR applications can also create and manipulate native windows and menus, add items to the system tray and dock, build local MySQLite databases, make network connections, and communicate with other clients through network connections. These functionalities aren't anything new, of course, but this is the first time that they've been so simple to implement and allowed for such a powerful and easy-to-build front-end.
Below is a brief overview provided by Lee Brimelow, creator of gotoAndLearn.com. It outlines some of the new functionalities introduced by AIR and demonstrates how simple they are to utilize.
Having limited experience with the technology, I can't say for sure, but I expect AIR to become hugely popular in the near future. Highly aesthetic, fairly powerful applications will be much easier to produce than in the past. These programs will be light-weight, fast to install, and completely cross-platform. We'll still need the more traditional languages for more intense, highly computational games and applications, but for small to medium-sized needs, AIR may be the new standard.