AIR for Javascript Developers Pocket Guide [Paperback]

Mike Chambers (Author), Daniel Dura (Author), Kevin Hoyt (Author), Dragos Georgita (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2008 | Series: Pocket Guide

This book is the official guide to Adobe ® AIR[TM], written by members of the AIR team. With Adobe AIR, web developers can use technologies like HTML and JavaScript to build and deploy web applications to the desktop. Packed with examples, this book explains how AIR works and features recipes for performing common runtime tasks.

Part of the Adobe Developer Library, this concise pocket guide explains:

• What Adobe AIR is, and the problems this runtime aims to solve
• How to set up your development environment
• The HTML and JavaScript environments within AIR
• How to create your first AIR application using HTML and JavaScript
• Ways to perform an array of common tasks with this runtime

Also included is a guide to AIR packages, classes, and command line tools. Once you understand the basics of building HTML- and JavaScript-based AIR applications, this book makes an ideal reference for tackling specific problems. It offers a quick introduction to a significant new development technology, which lets you combine the reach and ease of the Web with the power of the desktop.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mike Chambers has spent the last 8 years building applications that target the Flash runtime. During that time, he has worked with numerous technologies including Flash, Generator, .NET, Central, Flex, and Ajax. He is currently the senior product manager for developer relations for Apollo.

Daniel Dura is a Platform Evangelist at Adobe focusing on Apollo and Flash. He is currently based in San Francisco, California.

Before joining Macromedia (which merged with Adobe in 2005) Daniel and his brother Josh founded Dura Media LLC, a Rich Internet Application development company based in Dallas, Texas. While at Adobe, he was a member of the Central and Flex teams, as well as a Product Manager for Developer Relations.

Daniel has have given presentations on Flash, Apollo, and Flex all over the world at user group meetings, conferences, and pretty much anywhere someone is willing to listen. Outside of his day job he enjoys general aviation and is well on his way to earning his Private Pilot license.

Kevin Hoyt is a Platform Evangelist with Adobe Systems, Inc. who likes moving, breaking, blurring and jumping over the lines of conventional technology. He seeks out every opportunity to congregate with other like-minded developers, and exploring how to escape any lines that form a box. Pushing the envelope of what technology can do, and how people perceive and interact with it, is his passion.

Dragos Georgita is an engineer in the Adobe AIR Team, leading a group that focuses on the Ajax support in the runtime.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Adobe Developer Library; 1 edition (April 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596518374
• ISBN-13: 978-0596518370
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,959,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Use Your HTML/JavaScript Skills to Develop AIR Applications, April 28, 2008

By 

Paul Michael (Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: AIR for Javascript Developers Pocket Guide (Paperback)

If you're already familiar with HTML and JavaScript and would want to develop desktop applications using Adobe AIR then this is the right book for YOU.

In a nutshell, there are several approaches to developing AIR applications:
1. Using HTML and JavaScript
2. Using Flex
3. Using Flash

Obviously, this book focuses mainly on the first item.

I'm coming from Java Web Development background and I have just started with Flex. I also got interested in Adobe AIR after seeing some examples on the Internet. But since I'm already developing Flex applications for the web, I prefer developing AIR applications using Flex also (so it will be easier to port the application from web to desktop and vice versa).

Even so, I find the book very informative. Most especially the cookbook section where it shows you how to connect to the embedded database, read/write files and so on.

Given that this book is a Pocket Guide, I was quickly up to speed with the capabilities of Adobe AIR in a couple of hours.