Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) for JavaScript Developers Pocket Reference

vii

Chapter 1

Preface

This book provides a quick introduction to developing appli-
cations for the public Beta 1 build of the Adobe Integrated
Runtime (AIR). AIR, which prior to the Beta was referred to
by its code name, Apollo, is a new cross-platform desktop
application runtime being developed by Adobe. While
Adobe AIR allows both Flash- and HTML-based application
development, this book focuses on building AIR applica-
tions using HTML and JavaScript.

The book gives an overview of Adobe AIR, shows how to set
up your development environment, and discusses new AIR
functionality and APIs. Once you have finished reading this
book, you should have a good understanding of what AIR is
as well as how to build HTML and JavaScript applications
for it.

AIR Runtime Naming Conventions

Adobe AIR allows developers to leverage a number of web
technologies to deploy web applications to the desktop.
Indeed, there are so many technologies, that it can be diffi-
cult to keep track of them all. Table P-1 lists the terms used
in the book, and defines each one: