Introducing Adobe AIR

Adobe® AIR® is a cross-operating system runtime that allows you to leverage your existing web development skills (Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional, Adobe® Flash® CS4 Professional, Adobe® Flex™, Adobe® ActionScript® 3.0, HTML, JavaScript®, Ajax) to build and deploy Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) to the desktop.

You can find more information about getting started with and using Adobe AIR at the Adobe AIR Developer Connection (http://www.adobe.com/devnet/air/).

AIR enables you to work in familiar environments, to leverage the tools and approaches you find most comfortable, and by supporting Flash, Flex, HTML, JavaScript, and Ajax, to build the best possible experience that meets your needs.

For example, applications can be developed using one or a combination of the following technologies:

  • Flash / Flex / ActionScript

  • HTML / JavaScript / CSS / Ajax

  • PDF can be leveraged with any application

As a result, AIR applications can be:

  • Based on Flash or Flex: Application whose root content is Flash/Flex (SWF)

  • Based on Flash or Flex with HTML or PDF. Applications whose root content is Flash/Flex (SWF) with HTML (HTML, JS, CSS) or PDF content included

  • HTML-based. Application whose root content is HTML, JS, CSS

  • HTML-based with Flash/Flex or PDF. Applications whose root content is HTML with Flash/Flex (SWF) or PDF content included

Users interact with AIR applications in the same way that they interact with native desktop applications. The runtime is installed once on the user's computer, and then AIR applications are installed and run just like any other desktop application.

The runtime provides a consistent cross-operating system platform and framework for deploying applications and therefore eliminates cross-browser testing by ensuring consistent functionality and interactions across desktops. Instead of developing for a specific operating system, you target the runtime, which has the following benefits:

  • Applications developed for AIR run across multiple operating systems without any additional work by you. The runtime ensures consistent and predictable presentation and interactions across all the operating systems supported by AIR.

  • Applications can be built faster by enabling you to leverage existing web technologies and design patterns and extend your web based applications to the desktop without learning traditional desktop development technologies or the complexity of native code.

  • Application development is easier than using lower level languages such as C and C++. You do not need to manage the complex, low-level APIs specific to each operating system.

When developing applications for AIR, you can leverage a rich set of frameworks and APIs:

  • APIs specific to AIR provided by the runtime and the AIR framework

  • ActionScript APIs used in SWF files and Flex framework (as well as other ActionScript based libraries and frameworks)

  • HTML, CSS and JavaScript

  • Most Ajax frameworks

AIR dramatically changes how applications can be created, deployed, and experienced. You gain more creative control and can extend your Flash, Flex, HTML, and Ajax-based applications to the desktop, without learning traditional desktop development technologies.