Wiley Adobe AIR For Dummies 978-0-470-39044-3 Benutzerhandbuch

In This Chapter

▶ 

Understanding exactly what Adobe AIR is

▶ 

Discovering the significance of a new acronym — RIA

▶ 

Exploring the AIR security and signing model

▶ 

Setting up your development environment for Adobe AIR

W

eb developers, unite! For all too long, Web developers have been 
oppressed by the shackles of the browser window, their creativity 

stifled by cross-browser compatibility issues, their self-image hurt by the 
scoffs of desktop app programmers who trivialize browser-based solutions. . . 

But that was then; this is now. Or, to mimic the voiceover from an overly dra-
matic movie trailer, Everything you know about Web development is about to 
change. Introducing Adobe AIR. . .

Adobe AIR promises to liberate developers from the snares, toils, and 
oppression of their browser-based prisons and enable them to create “rich 
Internet applications” (RIAs) for the desktop. In true Braveheart fashion, 
maybe you will find yourself shouting from your office or cubicle, “You can 
take my life, but you can never take my Adobe AIR!” 

Okay, perhaps I am guilty of being just a wee bit over-the-top as I introduce 
Adobe AIR, but I hope the melodrama does serve a purpose. It helps show 
you that AIR really is not just another flavor of the week. AIR really does pro-
vide a greater freedom to do things that HTML/Ajax, Flash, and Flex develop-
ers can’t do inside the browser. 

In this chapter, I introduce you to this “breath of fresh AIR” and get you 
started working with it. Viva la RIAs!