Six must-see Adobe AIR sample applications
Though I haven't made an official announcement on my blog yet, a I recently switched over to a new role at Adobe. In my new role, I'm one of two product managers responsible for a new cross operating system runtime known as Adobe AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime). The goal of Adobe AIR is to make it very easy to build desktop applications with the skills and technologies web developers are already familiar with such as HTML, JavaScript, AJAX, Flash, ActionScript and Flex.
Just as Flash and HTML are designed to run the same on different operating systems, the objective of Adobe AIR is to extend that same concept to desktop applications. To the best of our ability, we'd like to abstract away operating system specific application development. Another goal is to reduce the time it takes to develop desktop applications as well as make it easier to create richer, more compelling applications (see Kuler). Creating a desktop application with a transparent window is just a few lines of code using AIR.
Once the AIR runtime is installed, the same file can be installed on a Mac or Windows (Linux coming soon). Applications built using Adobe AIR have read and write access to the local file system just like a native application. Other features include local SQLite database, drag'n'drop between applications, clipboard support, a simple and painless install, native file pickers, code signing, support for embedding PDF's and more. Since a web browser is built-in (WebKit), you can also use your favorite AJAX libraries to build applications entirely in HTML and JavaScript. Or, if you want more creative control, you can use Flash and Flex. There are several tools for building AIR applications including Dreamweaver CS3, Aptana (open source), and Flex Builder 3 (public beta). Since the command line tool for building applications is included in the AIR SDK, you can technically use whatever your code editing tool you're comfortable with.
Last night we announced the beta version which includes many new features. Also announced was the on AIR Bus Tour. I wrote an article for the Adobe Developer Center called Six must-see Adobe AIR sample applications that highlights some of my favorite programs built so far. I'll post more information soon including example code.
Here's a screenshot of one of my favorite applications built so far called DiggTop:
