SitePen Blog » Inside the Dojo Toolbox
Building the Dojo Toolbox allowed us to dive into Adobe® AIR™, and to create a blended toolchain of JavaScript, PHP, Python and Rhino (JavaScript on the Java Virtual Machine) for developing an amazing desktop application using open web technologies.
One of the most noticeable things you’ll see when moving from typical browser-based development to AIR is that you only have one browser to worry about. Dojo does a great job of masking browser JavaScript API differences, but there are still enough differences in CSS and other aspects of application development that it is somewhat refreshing to only have one platform to develop again. Also, since AIR includes WebKit, it has one of the fastest JavaScript implementations around and offers numerous useful experimental CSS properties that you can use in the AIR context. Apple has invested a lot in WebKit development, and AIR will naturally inherit those benefits when they next upgrade the included WebKit.
more fromwww.sitepen.com
Microsoft vs. Adobe: The Rivalry Heats Up - GigaOM
At face value, the fight is about Flash vs. Silverlight. Look deeper and the tussle is over not just online video but about cloud computing, rich Internet applications and mobile phones.
more fromgigaom.com
I’m johnny » Adobe technology platform ActionScript reference for RIA development (download)
This guide provides a reference for all native ActionScript APIs for the Adobe technology platform runtimes, Adobe
Flash Player and Adobe AIR, as well as the Flex framework APIs.
more fromimjohnny.cn
James Ward - RIA Cowboy
more fromwww.jamesward.com
A Proprietary Web? Blame the W3C | TechConsumer Paul Ellis
A must read. This article was slashdotted.
more fromwww.techconsumer.com
The new UI wars: Why there’s no Flash on iPhone 2.0 « counternotions
this article takes the RiA discussion to an entirely new level - the battle between Apple, Adobe and Microsoft to control the future user interface (UI). Adobe Flash extends the aging WiMP model, trying to create a "UI Convergence" across many platforms through the Flash RiA. With iPhone, Apple introduces the patented "gestures UI", running off the WebKit RiA. Microsoft presumably is copying the Flash RiA with the XAML rich WPF Silverlight RiA. Unfortunately, counternotions doe snot cover Silverlight. This incredible discussion is limited to Adobe and Apple.
more fromcounternotions.com
Runtime wars (2): Apple’s answer to Flash, Silverlight and JavaFX « counternotions
WebKit is Apple's Trojan Horse! Excellent introduction to WebKit presented in the context of Adobe and Microsoft RiA's.
more fromcounternotions.com
Flash Wars: Adobe Fights for AIR with the Open Screen Project [Part 3 of 3] | AppleInsider
Part two of the Prince McClean Adobe-Flash history. Excellent history involves Adobe SVG, Microsoft VmL-XAML-Silverlight, Apple WebKit, Sun (Java) as they battle for dominance over web applications and the future of the Web itself.
more fromwww.appleinsider.com
WebKit Meta: A new standard for in-game web content | Alp Toker
As many know, i've moved all my attention to WebKit and thw webkit "fixed/flow" document model as an alternative to Microsoft's proprietary XAML "fixed/flow". Webkit is the default layout for iPhone, Safari and the Adobe RIA runtime (Flex/Flash/AiR/Acrobat). It's just a short hop from WebKit to VisualForce Pages, the default document model for SalesForce.com developers. The Meta announcement further demonstrates how powerful the WebKit design is. It's will be worthwhile keepign an eye on the Meta JavaScript SDK-Runtime as a nice addition to WebKit. Good stuff!
more fromwww.atoker.com
WebKit, AJAX and ARAX | Readers Welcome ARAX and More: Darryl Taft follow-up zdnet
Darryl Taft writes a follow up article covering the comments to his original AJAX-ARAX ruby on rails MS-iron python story
more fromwww.eweek.com
Running beyond the browser
Although there are many ways to slice this discussion, it might be useful to compare Adobe RIA and Microsoft Silverlight RIA in terms of web ready, highly interactive documents.
The Adobe RIA story is quite different from that of Silverlight. Both however exploit the shortcomings of browsers; shortcomings that are in large part, i think, due to the disconnect the browser community has had with the W3C. The W3C forked off the HTML-CSS path, putting the bulk of their attention into XML, RDF and the Semantic Web. The web developer community stayed the course, pushing the HTML-CSS envelope with JavaScript and some rather stunning CSS magic.
Adobe seems to have picked up the HTML-CSS-Javascript trail with a Microsoft innovation to take advantage of browser cache, DHTML (Dynamic HTML). DHTML morphs into AJAX, (which so wild as to have difficulty scaling). And AJAX gets tamed by an Adobe-Apple sponsored WebKit.
Most people see WebKit as a browser specific layout engine, and compare it to the IE and Gecko on those terms. I would argue however that WebKit is both a document model and, a document format. For sure it's a framework for very advanced HTML-CSS-DOM-Javascript work.
Because the Adobe AIR run-time is based on WebKit layout, WebKit documents can hit on all cylinders across any browser able to implement the AIR plug-in. Meaning, web developers and web content providers need only target the WebKit document model to attain the interactive access ubiquity all seek. Very cool. Let me also add that the WebKit HTML-CSS-DOM-Javascript model is capable of "fixed/flow" representation. I'll explain the importance of "fixed/flow" un momento, but think about how iPhone renders a web page and you'll understand the "flow" side of this equation.
more fromdocs.google.com
Running Beyond the Browser | Move Over AJAX, ARAX is Here - Darryl Taft of eWeek
Darryl Taft posts an interesting question concerning running Ruby in a browser, and Microsoft's Silverlight proposal to do that with ARAX. I think he misses the larger context of the rise of RIA, and the wane of AJAX.
In particular, he misses the significance of two important RIA aspects: The Adobe RIA runs on the WebKit layout engine and document model. Microsoft RIA (Silverlight) runs on XAML "fixed/flow".
XAML "fixed/flow" is in effect, the web ready representation of MSOffice-OOXML. And Silverlight the Windows Presentation Foundation layer gone portable.
more fromwww.eweek.com
AJAX, AIR, RIA, Adobe Getting It, David Mendels and “Rich Internet Apps: How We Live Now” | James Governor’s Monkchips »
Blog from James Governor covers an exchange with Adobe's David Mendels concerning the transition from the static document centric Web 1.0, to the dynamic application platform we know today as the Web 2.0. David discusses the transition from DHTML to AJAX to RIA. David and his group at Adobe witnessed the transition and coined the phrase RIA - Rich Internet Application, to describe this incredible transition. No mention of WebKit as an important aspect enabling the interactive - dynamic document model behind Adobe RIA.
more fromwww.redmonk.com
The Acrobat.com Blog: Welcome to Acrobat.com - Work. Together. Anywhere.
Adobe's Erik Larson introduces Acrobat.com. His blog comments echo his post in response to an article at ComputerWorld: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9091678
In the CW article, Guy Creese of the Burton Group holds the line, defending, as expected, the Microsoft alighnment of MSOffice, Exchange and SharePoint.
more fromblogs.adobe.com
Kevin Lynch on Adobe's AIR: Extending the Web beyond the Browser - Knowledge@Wharton
good interview with Kevin Lynch about the future of the Web. Covers AIR, Flex, Flash, Silverlight and how the Web is moving from universal access and exchange of documents to that of applications. Lynch places Adboe products into a larger context of which problems these inventions solved. The new problem is that of expanding the Web to the desktop through these emerging universal applications.
more fromknowledge.wharton.upenn.edu
AppleInsider | Flash Wars: The Many Enemies and Obstacles of Flash [Part 2 of 3]
more fromwww.appleinsider.com
Notation: * = Private bookmark and comment|… = Clipping [?] | … = Public highlight [?]
