Go get it, tiger!
What's Apollo?
Apollo is the code name for a cross-operating system runtime being developed by Adobe that allows developers to leverage their existing web development skills (Flash, Flex, HTML, JavaScript, Ajax) to build and deploy rich Internet applications (RIAs) to the desktop.
Apollo enables developers to create applications that combine the benefits of web applications – network and user connectivity, rich media content, ease of development, and broad reach – with the strengths of desktop applications – application interactions, local resource access, personal settings, powerful functionality, and rich interactive experiences.
The Apollo is out on labs article by Aral Balkan, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 UK: England License.
Cool, I can’t wait to dig into Apollo. Last I checked in on it was Flash Forward 2006 in Seattle, and I’m sure things are way futuristic now in comparison.
So in order for clients to use our Apollo apps, we have to get them to install Apollo, AND then our app?
I hope there’s an easy way to allow potential users to download one file, which installs Apollo AND then our app with one installer.
Any idea if Apollo has looked at something for that Aral?
Hey Lee,
Yes, you can bundle the runtime with your application into a single, platform-specific application. Note the platform-specific bit. The trade-off is that the runtime is necessarily platform-specific and thus you’ll need to distribute separate installers for supported platforms (currently Windows and OS X and also Linux, post 1.0). Instead, if you distribute your application as an .air file, it’s a single, cross-platform application.
The great thing about this is that initially, before the Apollo runtime has a high-level penetration, you can be guaranteed that your application will run without requiring a separate download for the user. I see people using this quite a bit. Once the Apollo runtime has ubiquitous penetration I’m sure we’ll see more applications being distributed as .air files.
Hope that answers your question :)
That and then some!! I appreciate it!
Hi Aral!
This is what I’ve been waiting for! The thing is I’m kind of spoilt with the incredible power of neko, haXe and SWHX our stripped version of Apollo.
Stripped because we don’t have an HTML renderer. (Yet, :)) )
What we have is an extension mechanism via Neko. Practically, we can use every C/C libraries via neko. Image Manipulation, MySQL, SQLite Databases, Game Engines, you name it.
Do you think Adobe will add such a mechanism to the runtime? In the FAQ they say “we are considering the feasibility of it”.