Adobe AIR – ABOUT

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

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

To Sum-up

1. The new Adobe AIR runtime lets developers use Flex technology to build rich Internet applications that deploy to the desktop.

2. AIR applications run across operating systems

3. AIR applications are easily delivered using a single installer file

Creating an AIR application in Flex Builder 3
1. Install the AIR runtime (runtime for desktop)
2. Install Flex Builder 3
3. Follow the below link

http://livedocs.adobe.com/flex/3/html/help.html?content=FBHelloWord_1.html

Important Information

The Adobe technology platform contains two primary runtimes
1. Flash Player is browser-based
2. Adobe AIR is desktop-based

AIR is built on top of Flash Player, so the Flash Player APIs are available within Adobe AIR
Consequently, Adobe AIR APIs are not available within Flash Player

The Flex framework is built on top of the Flash Player APIs, so it runs in both Flash Player and Adobe AIR. However, a number of Flex APIs take advantage of AIR APIs, and thus work only within Adobe AIR

AIR Security

Although the AIR security model is an evolution of the Flash Player security model, the security contract is different from the security contract applied to content in a browser. This contract offers developers a secure means of broader functionality for rich experiences with freedoms that would be inappropriate for a browser-based application.

AIR applications run with the same user privileges as native desktop applications

AIR applications are written using either compiled bytecode (SWF content) or interpreted script (JavaScript, HTML) so that the AIR runtime provides memory management. This minimizes the chances of AIR applications being affected by vulnerabilities related to memory management, such as buffer overflows and memory corruption.

AIR Links

Adobe AIR Developer Center for Flex
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/air/flex/

Samples
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/air/flex/samples.html