What's the advantage of an Adobe AIR app over a traditional desktop app?

Posted by John on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by John
Published on 2010-06-03T10:31:01Z Indexed on 2010/06/03 11:04 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 168

Filed under:

flex

|

air

|

cross-platform

|

desktop-application

I'm pretty familiar with using Adobe Flex & AS3, and compared with writing apps in JS/HTML I think it's very cool. However, since AIR is essentially a non-browser version of Flex with benefits like local storage, it seems to be competing as a cross-platform desktop application platform... and in that space it's much less mature than more established desktop technologies.

So what's the advantage of creating a desktop application using AIR compared to something like Java (or C++ using a cross-platform GUI library like wxWidgets)? Java's equally capable of communicating with the server for instance, I'm not quite sure what AIR adds when competing head-to-head in the desktop development world?

© Stack Overflow or respective owner

Related posts about flex

Could not resolve <fx:Script> to a component implementation.

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi, i created project with flexmojos maven archtype..i used flexmojos:flexbuilder and compile/run with FlashBuilder 4 everything is okay but when i try to compile project with flexmojos i got following error: [ERROR] Z:....\src\main\flex\Main.mxml:[6,-1] Could not resolve < fx:Script to… >>> More
Flex builder3 is not generating html wrapper when targeting flex 4 sdk

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
In Flex builder 3 when I create a new flex application targeting the flex 4 sdk, it wont generate a html wrapper file. I have hunted around the web for answers, but no success. I have made sure the box is checked in the project properties to generate html wrapper. The only workaround is to target… >>> More
Flex datagrids - Alternatives in non-flex/flash environment ?

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I did some work that used Flex datagrids previously. It was smooth for the users and developers alike. In my current project, I have to implement the same grids but not using Flex / Flash. I have taken a look at extJS and YUI but they don't seem to measure up. Are there other packages I should… >>> More
Using flex 4 sdk in flex builder 3

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
This question may be an absolute crap. Can i use the flex 4 sdk in flex builder 3? i have a licensed version of flex builder 3 professional. so if i need to use flex 4 sdk in it, do i need to buy flash builder? cant i get all the new components in flex builder 3? Regards, PK >>> More
jetty-blazeds and maven (com.adobe.flex#flex-messaging-core missing)

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi all, I want to setup jetty with jetty-blazeds extension. Everything looks fine but when I run maven to get the dependencies, I get: UNRESOLVED DEPENDENCIES com.adobe.flex#flex-messaging-core;3.2.0: not found com.adobe.flex#flex-messaging-common;3.2.0: not found Does anyone know a maven repository… >>> More

Related posts about air

How to get adobe air air.navigateToURL(urlReq) to bring default bowser to focus

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm working with adobe air and I have this code.. var urlReq = new air.URLRequest('http://google.com'); air.navigateToURL(urlReq); It's working correctly in that it is loading the page in the browser, but the issue is that adobe air is staying in the front and the browser is not being brought… >>> More
Adobe AIR - file locked by air

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hello I am downloading and storing files locally in the app storage domain. For some reason one of the files gets locked by air. I found this by looking at process explorer. If I clear the browser cache the file never gets locked, only if it attempts to download the file but it exists in browser… >>> More
Adobe AIR - Option to not create a shortcut when installing an AIR application

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hello Stackoverflow community, Does anyone know if there is an option to not create a shortcut to an AIR application after its installation? Currently, all I have found is an option to choose the location of the application shortcut from within the start menu (in the application descriptor file… >>> More
Accessing other windows in Air

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi, Is there a way to access other active windows in AIR? I want to make an AIR app that look into the active application text and look for a specific pattern and make a transparent window into that text position to create a button. Its a bit like the skype plug-in in Mozilla ... It replaces the… >>> More
Loading an external SWF App in a new Air window with resize functionality

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hello everyone, i'm trying to load a local SWF Application in my Air Application via the SWFLoader class. The SWFLoader class is displayed in a new Window. Therefore, i'm trying to resize the window automatically, when the Flash Application is resizing. But here's the problem. The SWFLoader does… >>> More