My new project: AS3BloggerLib
Ah, actionscript libraries. You can never have too many of them, right? Right. And not to mention that there's nothing better than someone writing code for you. In all honesty I haven't had much time to myself to use any of the wonderful AS3 libraries that are out there right now, but while working on a chapter for AIR Instant Results I was inspired to start my own project.
The chapter utilizes the Blogger Data API, but because it must be compressed into 30 or so pages, I have to develop a very simplified set of classes to handle the communication. Any OOP stickler would probably give me a hard time about the class structure, but thats a compromise that you sometimes have to make when writing a book. Yes, because I love OOP programming and can't get enough of it, it's certainly sad to have to make compromises. However, this hasn't stopped me from reconciling my own guilt. In my spare time I've been diligently working on a comprehensive AS3 library for the Blogger API. Hooray! Guilt-be-gone.
AS3BloggerLib is my first leap into creating my own open source Actionscript project, and I'm looking forward to fixing, updating, changing, and redesigning this thing until its picture perfect. In all honesty, it still needs some sprucing up (needs lots of encapsulation), but works pretty well for the most part. Certainly there are things that are missing, most notably documentation, but these things should appear in the near future.
No packaged downloads are available yet, so if you're interested in getting at the code you'll have to do an SVN checkout to get the source. Eventually there will be a packaged SWC, examples, and solid documentation. Also, I certainly am not opposed to any criticism or suggestions for improvement, so don't hesitate to start discussing things on the discussion group.
The last note I should make is that this library only works for installed (AIR) applications at the moment because Google does not host a crossdomain file. Other than that, I hope this goes over well!
Not So Thin AIR: Saffron UML
As of late, it seems that AIR has been gaining some popularity. Popularity that is certainly well deserved. Honestly, I had my doubts at first, but the deeper I get into the book we are working on I am finding it to be a really fantastic platform for application development. One particular application that has me extremely excited is an application entitled Saffron that is being developed by Samuel Agesilas Pastel. Its pretty apparent from what he has shown on his blog that the application looks to be one of the best practical uses of the Flex and AIR platforms. I can't help but notice just how beautiful the application looks as well. The interface seems to be delicately crafted and executed to perfection. Of course I'll have a better idea if I ever get to use the application, but needless to say, this application really gets me excited about the future of AIR.
WROX: AIR Instant Results
As you can probably assume from the general latency between posts, things have been pretty busy around here. Marc and I (and Todd) have been hard at work on our book for Wiley. We had not mentioned the title of the book prior, but now that the book is available for pre-order on Amazon, its safe to announce it. The book is titled AIR Instant Results. It has been a major work in progress the past few months as the alpha and beta releases of Apollo/AIR have changed a bit and at times did not deliver the functionality we assumed it might have. Alas, the book should hopefully be available not too long after AIR is officially released to the public.
The book is a "by example" book and each chapter teaches you how to create a different application using AIR within the Flex framework. It should be a great place to start learning about AIR if you have some experience with Flex already. The applications, for the most part, are not too complicated and be a good stepping stone into making your own versions of the same applications, or even spur some inspiration for applications of your own.
After working with AIR for the past few months, I have to admit, I'm very pleased with the direction the developers at Adobe are taking it in. Initially I had doubts about just how useful it would be. I had used MDM Zinc quite a bit at my previous job, and I had a feeling it was going to be similar, but I was completely wrong. Given the functionality that has been implemented so far, and the rumors of future additions, I can safely say that AIR will definitely be a useful technology that developers should consider learning and using. Surprisingly, there's already an initiative to start using the beta runtime over at Pownce. I personally have not used Pownce yet, but its nice to see it being put to good use. Marc and I have even tossed around the idea of whipping up our own application at some point, but not until we finish this book. So be on the look out!
Not Bummed About AIR’s HTML Component: Javascript and Actionscript Integration
So I've had a change of heart. Big whoop! It happens to everyone at some point in there life. Its kind of like when your girlfriend starts to really get on your nerves but then out of no where she...oh nevermind, I think you know what I mean. At any rate, I've been working on an HTML/CSS editor program for the book and I have to say that the Javascript/Actionscript integration is simply amazing! Maybe I'm getting excited over nothing, but I can't begin to tell you how awesome it is to be able to loop through stylesheet and css related objects all inline with my actionscript. Sure, there's a few things you have to take into consideration, but it has allowed me to make this application in almost no time. I just have to brush up on my Javascript and bam! CSS editor! Needless to say, I'm stoked. Over and out.
Bummed out over AIR’s HTML component
For perhaps obvious reasons, I've been trying to make a web browser using AIR's HTML component. I made some really quick assumptions about how this component was going to work and how much functionality Adobe would be putting into it. My assumptions are partly based on an entry in the AIR Developer FAQ. It reads:
Q: Is Adobe AIR a web browser?
A: No. Adobe AIR is a cross-operating system runtime that runs outside of the browser. Theoretically you could build a web browser on top of Adobe AIR.
Naturally I thought: "Wow, what a sweet possibility!" I could make a cool little custom browser with some rad built in features. But it wasn't until after hours and hours of trying to create a general purpose browser, I've come to a breaking point. I should have realized this earlier, but its just not made for general web browsing yet. I mean, a quick Google search reveals that no one else out there seems to be trying to make a browser on top of AIR. Not to mention you can't open links that use an "_blank" target or open Javascript created windows.
It's my own fault really for making the assumption this was possible. So now I can only hope that we get something more robust in the future.