Adobe AIR in Action (Paperback)

~ Joseph Lott (Author), Kathryn Rotondo (Author), Samuel Ahn (Author), Ashley Atkins (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Adobe AIR is one of the hottest topics in rich application development. This exciting new technology is still in beta, but it's already being adopted by such web giants as eBay. With AIR, Web developers use their existing skills to build rich applications that flow seamlessly between the internet and the desktop.

"Adobe AIR in Action" introduces AIR to developers familiar with Flex and JavaScript, showing them how to build solid AIR-driven desktop and hybrid applications. Using small examples, the expert authors walk web developers through the new topics they will need to develop AIR applications for the desktop. Readers will learn the essential features of the AIR API with examples and code samples that web professionals can use to get up and running in AIR quickly. The book describes how to create and customize native windows, read and write files and folders on the local file system.

Web developers who read this book will be able to take instant advantage of the increased resources available to desktop applications. Sometimes-connected, web-enabled applications are gaining in popularity, and web developers of all stripes will want to add these skills to their toolbox.

About the Author

Joseph Lott has deep professional experience using Adobe technologies like Flex, Flash, and Actionscript. Joey is the author (or co-author) of ActionScript Cookbook, Programming Flash Communication Server, and the Flash 8 Cookbook and several other related books.

Kathryn Rotondo is a software developer at Schematic. She received a graduate certificate in software engineering from the Harvard Extension School and a certificate in Flash from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Sam Ahn has architected and built RIAs over the past seven years for clients including Pfizer, Wyeth, MINIUSA, and Puma. Currently he is a partner and founder of The Morphic Group, an interactive development company focusing on Flash/Flex development.

Ashley Atkins is a senior software developer at Schematic, and has over six years of experience developing in ActionScript. His range of work extends from creating simple educational interactions to architecting and developing applications in Flex and AIR.

Product Details

• Paperback: 317 pages
• Publisher: Manning Publications; Pap/Pas edition (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933988487
• ISBN-13: 978-1933988481
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #515,104 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete Adobe AIR Start-up kit for Flex and Flash CS3, September 2, 2008

By	shawnyale "There is only what we create" (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews

GREAT READ!
Adobe AIR In Action is a great resource for those starting to learn the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR). This book takes you from the absolute essentials, step-by-step with thoughtful screenshots to light your path to creating great AIR applications.

I was really impressed that the authors take you through everything you need or want to know in order to get up and running. For example, I have often avoided making a lot of configuration changes to the AIR app.xml file just because I did not have time to scurry around finding clear concise explanations of what effects my actions would have. Lott, et al. break it down thoroughly and completely in a section that took me about 5 minutes to fully understand all of the various settings of the config.xml file.

I am a visual learner and, in the past, spent hours looking at framework documentation ASDOCS only to realize that I didn't learn nearly what my time investment would have supported. I can say that the style of this book is very conducive to retention without "talking down" to the reader.

Coming from a Flex background, I enjoyed the many examples provided in Flex, but was especially interested in the step-by-step examples provided for people coming from a Flash CS3 background. As with all of the examples in the book, Adobe AIR In Action not only provides you with the "how" to do something, but background information on the "why" you do something (should you be interested in knowing the "why" that is).

There is an entire chapter devoted just to integrating your AIR application into your SQL database. The chapter is quite thorough, yet explained clearly and effectively.

My only criticism, if any, would have to be that I would have liked a little more in the way of network, and web service integration. Since the majority of AIR applications are distributed applications that call back to some form of data storage, I would have enjoyed a little more depth in different approaches of asynchronous server communication with your AIR application. However, the book does cover network monitoring for both HTTP and sockets.

I'm not trying to sell you anything. But I will say, that this is one of the better beginner level books I've read. Is it going to answer ALL of your questions? No. But it will give you a great head-start and sound foundational working knowledge of Adobe AIR.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good intro to AIR for Flex developer, February 14, 2009

By	Software Professional (San Jose,CA) - See all my reviews

If you are flex developer and looking into AIR this book is for you. It is for beginners in AIR but flex knowledge is of great help to understand AIR.

5.0 out of 5 stars Review by Arnaud Lemercier, May 6, 2009

By	Developpez.com writers - See all my reviews

"Adobe AIR in Action" is a book that has everything you need theory, practice, advisory for you at the center of the matter. The introduction helps you understand the architecture of an AIR application.
The suite is divided into 3 parts: Flex Builder, Flash and Flex SDK. For those who want to use AIR via HTML, do not panic, Chapter 7 is dedicated to that.

Thereafter, the book explains the case of use. These include window management, transparency, full screen, use the menu ...

Chapter by chapter, we find all the basics such as access to databases, interaction with the clipboard, use the drag & drop, use sockets or file access.

Throughout the book, you can test what you learned on a sample application which is enriched and expanded in each lesson.

To understand more easily the various source code exposed, it is preferable to have some concepts of ActionScript 3.0. Beginners will find them but also the reading may be a little more difficult.

To summarize, it's a very good book. Well presented, clear, simple, interesting and really useful. Personally, I just regret that there is no explanation on the use of WebService with AIR.