Building Rich Internet Applications Using Flex and Java

In this book, we discuss both Java-based web applications and Flex-based RIAs. For the Java developer, this means you can learn how to take your existing familiarity with Java and integrate Flex and RIAs into your projects. For developers who are more familiar with Flash or Flex, this book will guide you through the core techniques demanded by server-side applications, such as Spring, POJO (Plain Old Java Objects) and ORM (Object-relational mapping). This book is divided into ten chapters, which are grouped according to three concepts - Model, Control and View. Model - Getting Started: Learn more about how Rich Internet Applications came into being, and the developer environment necessary for the CrePetstore project. - Spring Fundamentals: Learn about Spring, one of the signature frameworks for Java web applications, and its principles, structure and implementation, together with source code. - Data Service: Learn about the principles and implementation of HTTPService, Web Service and RemoteObject - the techniques used to service data from server-side to the Flex client. Control - Rich Internet Applications: Learn about the basic principles behind RIAs, and how Flex and Spring applications can be integrated to deliver them. - Cairngorm Framework: Learn about Cairngorm, a Model-View-Control (MVC) framework used to structure Flex applications. More than just a framework, however, Cairngorm is generally considered a methodology and best practice that can help achieve optimal arrangements of Flex code and components. - Data Communication: Analogous to the 'Data Service' chapter, this chapter examines how the data services are implemented on the Flex client side through source code examples. View - Flex Fundamentals: Looking at the sample application, learn the basic techniques behind building Flex application, using either Flex SDK or Flash Builder. - Event and Data: Learn about event-based architecture and data binding, two ways to create more efficient and organized Flex applications. - User Interface Enhancement: How to use style, skins, chart, navigation, transition and effect and more to improve Flex user interfaces. - Advanced Topics: More advanced techniques such as localization for multiple languages and mobile platform support using Adobe AIR.