Adobe AIR: Do we really need to run the browser app on the desktop?

Adobe AIR: Do we really need to run the browser app on the desktop?

Author Jon Rose translator Guo Xiaogang released on December 2, 2007 7:14 P.M. community Architecture, Java theme RIA, rich client/desktop

The Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) is a platform for developers to build desktop applications using Web technology. Danny-t on the blog about the generics of Adobe Air, "Escaping from the browser is the right step." ”

In the article, Danny-t expressed his own expectations as a user: I don't generally like downloading and installing applications ...

I love Ria and I like them for easy access, use and sharing ...

I think it's not going to do any good to run RIA as a separate entity from the browser. The two most attractive features of Ria are simple and ubiquitous, and the RIA that leaves the browser limits these two points.

He cited buzzword as an example: in the case of buzzword, it is an extraordinary ria, which, in my opinion, is superior to any online and offline word processing tool. I haven't seen the air version yet, and I've heard that the air version is already in development, and I can foresee the huge enhancements that air has brought to it. However, if connection detection, local file storage, drag and drop, and so on can be used in the browser version, it is not much better.

Air provides features that are not provided by Flash/flex in the browser, and Danny-t also sees the need for them: These features are provided by air, not in the Flash Player, and I do think these features are of high value. Installing air gives me all these capabilities, including the resources in the browser and a separate runtime. I understand that under the restrictions of various security sandbox, it is not easy to run in a browser.

The security guru will tell me that what I'm asking for is not impossible, just not supposed to. But my feeling is, as long as it is up to me to decide what can be accessed, what can not, then not in the browser should be no different. Is that the only way I think about it.

"I don't totally disagree with him," Adobe's Ryan Stewart replied in his blog. Although air is cool, I still feel that the browser is the central place to touch most Web applications ... But even with some features of air, the browser app is still not a desktop app, and that's what I think is the main advantage of air ...

For me, air represents a real mixed-use development. It uses web technology and development trends, but allows developers to create real desktop applications. But that's not something everyone appreciates.

The key question is what your users want. Do they want a program that stays on the hard drive? , installs like other programs, behaves like any other desktop application (offline, uses file systems, notifications, customizable looks, and so on), or wants the app to stay in the browser.

David Coletta a href= from the buzzword team "http://danny-t.co.uk/index.php/2007/11/18/adobe-air-is-breaking-out- "The puzzle is not just about security: it's not just about security," of-the-browser-the-right-next-step/> in Danny-t's blog. There are a lot of technical problems with browser/flash interaction, forcing buzzword to play well in the browser. For example, the formatting of text and keyboard management in the Clipboard is virtually impossible to implement correctly in a browser, although buzzword is already close to the answer.

Readers in the infoq.com community, are your users asking for features and functionality that can give you the value of Air's desktop integration and off-line features? If required, do you need full air functionality? Or is it enough to have offline support provided by browser plugins like Google gears?

For more information about Adobe AIR, see: Http://www.infoq.com/cn/air View in English: Adobe air:do We really need browser apps that run on th E desktop?