AIR Derby Prizes, Ajax and You
The second leg of the on AIR Bus Tour came to a conclusion last week in Boston, MA. Once again, we were blown away by the numbers of HTML/JavaScript developers in attendance (an average of 50% of the audience at each event). Imagine my surprise then, when I found out that there has been an astoundingly low number of HTML/JavaScript entries for the AIR Developer Derby!
Note: For legal reasons, I am not allow to disclose the exact number of entries we’ve received thus far. Let’s just say that the odds are significantly in your favor.
If you haven’t heard about AIR, it stands for Adobe Integrated Runtime, and allows web developers to build desktop applications. AIR includes first-class support for HTML and JavaScript by way of WebKit. WebKit is commonly used in Safari, to include Safari 3 and is quickly growing to have top-notch CSS3 support. With a few lines of HTML and JavaScript, coupled with AIR API’s, you can be building desktop applications. Here’s an example.
<html>
<head>
<title>My AIR Application</title>
<!-- Include AIR API aliases -->
<script src="AIRAliases.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
// Called when the document finishes loading
function doLoad()
{
// Listen for the user to click the save button
document.getElementById( 'btnSave' ).addEventListener( 'click', doSave );
}
// Called when the user clicks the save button
function doSave()
{
// Get the name value from the text field
// Create a reference to a place on disk to store the data
// Create a stream for use in writing the data
var name = document.getElementById( 'txtName' ).value;
var file = air.File.desktopDirectory.resolve( 'boston.txt' );
var stream = new air.FileStream();
// Open the stream for writing with the designated reference
// Write the name value to the file as a string with system encoding
// Close the stream
stream.open( file, air.FileMode.WRITE );
stream.writeMultiByte( name, air.File.systemCharset );
stream.close();
}
</script>
</head>
<!-- Listen for the document to finish loading -->
<body onLoad="doLoad();">
<!-- Basic form to collect user information -->
Name:
<input id="txtName" type="text" />
<input id="btnSave" type="button" value="Save" />
</body>
</html>
If you haven’t heard about the AIR Developer Derby, you can find out more by visiting the site or reading the official rules (PDF). At a high level however, the AIR Developer Derby gives budding AIR developers a chance at one of several unbelievable prizes. There are categories for business and community applications, both of which will have a winning HTML/JavaScript entry. Each winning entry will get an ultimate developer workstation, but there’s also a grand prize for a $100,000 travel certificate.
All winners will also get a trip and conference pass to Adobe’s annual developer conference, MAX, in Chicago, IL from September 30 to October 3. While there you can strut your stuff, and point to your winning entry as an Adobe showcase. All entries must be received by September 5, 2007, which means you have a little over one month to finish your next winning entry. If you’re planning to make a run at it, or have already started, drop me a note and let me know!