Is it possible for Flex developers to apply their Web development skills to build desktop applications? Just a couple of years ago, this question would sound strange due to the fact that Web and desktop development originally implied different skills and programming patterns. At least, that had been the case before the new technologies, such as Adobe AIR and Mozilla Prism, were launched, which made it possible for AJAX and Flex developers to create desktop applications while applying Web development expertise.
In fact, both AIR and Prism were introduced with the same purpose, but still they imply different ways of achieving it. Adobe AIR, a cross-platform runtime environment, enables Flex developers to build desktop applications by addressing the code base of an existing Flex project, so that both desktop and Web versions of the application can be built independently from the same source code. Installation required for AIR runtime is not a big issue, since it is included into the standard distribution kit of Adobe Flash.
The second solution available to Flex developers is Mozilla Prism, a product that integrates Web apps with the desktop and is based on the concept of Site-Specific Browsers. Prism works exclusively with a single Web application and, unlike AIR, cannot be implemented to build applications that run locally, but rather provides a desktop interface for an existing Web application. The requirement to run apps using Prism is to have a Flash player installed on the computer.
But why in the first place would Flex developers want to build desktop, rather than Web applications? First of all, when local computing resources are being utilized instead of regularly addressing a Web server, the application runs considerably faster. In addition, desktop applications—even Web-active—help decrease bandwidth costs. Apart from that, all Flex developers are well aware of the limitations imposed by a browser. Running in a browser sandbox implies restricted access to a local file system and limited cross-domain support. In case a browser crashes, the application’s performance will not be affected.
The possibility to create both Web and desktop applications by the same team of Flex developers may also be appreciated by independent software vendors (ISVs) to increase developer team’s productivity. Working with Web and desktop applications means shortened development time and lower costs. Adobe Flex developers can utilize Flex Builder to build AIR applications from an existing Flex code base, stripping it of Web-specific functionality and adding desktop elements. Likewise, they can include all the common code in a separate project and reuse it for building both Web and desktop applications.
Adopting Mozilla Prism is even simpler. To create an app, Flex developers should install Prism and specify the URL of the Web application he or she wants to bring to the desktop. However, Prism is limited to just creating a desktop shell for a Web application. Though many interesting and useful features, such as support for offline data storage and access to 3D graphics hardware resources, have been announced in Prism, we still have to wait for them to come.
So, why should we care about Prism at all, regarding its limitations? The thing is that with Prism you have unparalleled simplicity of bringing an app to the desktop by means of several clicks and without modifying the code. After the magical transition, the application can be run on any computer, provided a Flash player is installed.
Flex developers who want to enhance their Web application's performance by utilizing local computing resources, may prefer working with Adobe AIR. Those who need simplicity and fast development over offline capabilities should give Mozilla Prism a try.
For ISVs, the evolution of both technologies means they can have the same development team do what would otherwise take two teams to achieve.
Author Resource:-
Inessa Bokhan, Marketing Department, Altoros - Flex Developers Team.
Learn more about Flex at Flex developers website.
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