1. AIR

Adobe AIR

This is the most noticeable development in the web, and is also the most useful! As most of you know, AIR enables you to take web applications to the desktop, with unimaginable ease. The best thing about AIR, is that you can use your existing skills, to create the applications. Also, due to the AIR run-time, it is cross platform. Now this combined with the use of tradition web languages (HTML, AS, JavaScript, etc…), opens up a huge mark, never touched upon by web developers. The power of this is still to be put to it’s full potential.

For example, you could just launch a desktop app to do your shopping, instead of launching the browser, log-in in, then waiting for the browser to refresh as you add whatever you need to your cart. All this could be done without one page refresh, no long loading times etc. This would make doing your weakly shopping much easier and less of a pain in the arse.

Here are some links to get you started:

• Gotoandlearn() – Getting started with AIR. Lee Brimelow
  
• Getting started with AIR on Linux. Mike Chambers
• Adobeairtutorials.com.
• 101 AIR Resources.

2. Flex / Flash

Adobe Flash CS3

Adobe Flex 3

Now, these technologies are a lot more mature than AIR. Flex is on version 3 and Flash is almost at version 10. Nearly, if not all animation and creative sites are made using Flash technologies. The same thing using other technologies would take 10x as much work, and also when using Flash you have a universal platform. This means that Flash designers/developers can kick browser compatibility out the window.

With Flash, not only can it be a great tool to create with, but also a great tool to provide inspiration with. Now you may be thing that you can gain inspiration from anything. Now this is very true. For example, is it as easy to gain inspiration to get into web dev but looking at a PHP script, or looking at a cool animation done in Flash? Now the whole reason I go into the web, was because of Flash. I remember thinking how cool it would be to creating experiences like that, and even better, show them to the whole world!

Alternatively, you could use Flex, which is based on the Flash platform, for creating RIA (Rich Internet Applications). Flex is split into two parts, the Flex framework. This provides all the components, etc, that you build Flex applications with, then there is Flex Builder. This is a Flex IDE built on Eclipse. Flex Builder (now at version 3) is very good for getting the best out of Flex. It combines a visual GUI designer and a code view.

Flex was originally designed to be used by tradition coders and not designers, but now is evolving the same way Flash did, catering for designers and developers. Although Flex, I think it will always be more for coders than designers.

Now, if you combine Flex and Flash, you get a functional RIA but with a very fancy GUI. A lot of  was done in Flash, and the back end could be developed in Flex. This means that the traditional web app, will become a lot more interesting, but not lose any of its functionality.

Tutorial Links:

• Gotoandlearn() – Great all round Flash tutorials.
• Kirupa – Tutorials on everything!
• Flash Perfection.
• Flex.org – The heart of Flex.
• Adobe Flex Developer Center.

3. HTML / Javascript / Ajax

Ajax

Now onto the most tradition web technologies. These have been used since the early days of the web (apart for AJAX). The backbone of the web is HTML. This, in it’s self, cannot do much. This is where Javascript and other languages come in. These can be combined with HTML to provide much more functionality. This could be animation using something like Moo Tools, or a CMS using PHP/Ajax.

I haven’t had much experience using these technologies. Flash is my main one, but when I first for into web, I used HTML is extensively and also I got to know PHP.

These different technologies are now being combined with Flash, and each other to provide more complete web sites/apps.

Getting started:

• W3Schools.
• HTML Code Tutorial.
• HTMLTutorials.ca.
• Page Tutor.

Conclusion:

Well, now you know what the main aspects of some of the main languages. It really depends on what you want to do. If you want to make animations etc, then go for Flash. For RIA , use Flex. If you want to just make anything else, then you could use a combination of these languages, or see which one makes the task you need the easiest.

Harry.

This video is presented by Mike Chambers, who is, shall we say, a master in Flash. The video shows you how to get started with Adobe AIR on the Linux platform.

Here it is:

http://www.gotoandlearn.com/player.php?id=80

Hope it is useful, and cheers to Lee and Mike for making this happen!

Harry.

Now is Adobe’s own words:

SwitchBoard brings together the power of the automation in the Creative Suite applications with the potential for third parties to extend the creative process with new applications produced using AIR. The result is an extensible, powerful, cross-platform environment that can quickly adapt to today’s rapidly changing creative workflows.

So, what can you do with SwitchBoard?

SwitchBoard allows you to use features from any Creative Suite application in your own AIR application. So, say if you wanted to convert a .PSD to a .PNG, all you would have to do is use the SwitchBoard SDK to call Photoshop, and once Photoshop has opened, tell it to convert the selected file to a .PNG. Simple huh?

How to use SwitchBoard?

Well, to get started you need to download the Switchboard SDK and Installer from here (http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/SwitchBoard#Installing_SwitchBoard)

Here is a short example, inspired by the getting started:

1
2
3
4

var msg: com.adobe.SwitchBoard.Message = new com.adobe.SwitchBoard.Message();
msg.target = "photoshop";
msg.body = "alert( 'Hello World' );";
msg.send();

What this does is simple send the message ‘alert( ‘Hello World’ )’ to Photoshop.

1. Create a variable called msg, of type Message.
2. Then you tell it which application you want to communicate with. I take it here what you know what were communicating with :) (Photoshop?).
3. Then you input to code you want to execute in your desired app.
4. Finally, it sends to specified code, to the specified application.

There you go, your first app that uses SwitchBoard!

Till next time!
Harry.