 "Adobe, Salesforce.com Form Alliance To Advance App Development")
Enterprise cloud computing company Salesforce.com and Adobe Systems have announced the availability of a new offering that unites the ability of the Force.com platform with the ubiquity of the Adobe Flash Platform to enable a new generation of cloud-based rich Internet applications (RIAs). The new offering, Adobe Flash Builder for Force.com, integrates the two platforms to bring the richness of the consumer Web to enterprise cloud applications to enable an improved level of developer productivity.
“Adobe and salesforce.com share a common vision for accelerating developer success with cloud computing,” said Ariel Kelman, vice president, platform product marketing, salesforce.com. “Bringing together Adobe Flash Platform and Force.com will enable the creation of new kinds of business applications that run in the cloud and are as compelling and easy to use as the best of the consumer Web.”
Adobe Flash Builder for Force.com is a jointly developed integrated development environment (IDE) that provides a single tool for building cloud-based RIAs, which can easily be deployed to end users through the browser using the Adobe Flash Player or directly to the desktop via Adobe AIR.
This tight integration enables client-side data management and synchronisation between cloud and client, simplifying the development of applications that seamlessly run online or offline across operating systems and devices, while taking full advantage of the Force.com platform. Developers can use Adobe Flash Builder for Force.com to extend or enhance existing Salesforce CRM implementations and custom-built Force.com applications, or build entirely new applications to provide customised user experiences for any business need.
Features
Developers can use Adobe Flash Builder for Force.com to build applications that work the way people work. They can add intuitive, interactive user interface (UI) features, such as drag and drop, to shorten application learning curves, increase user acceptance, improve productivity and reduce help-desk support calls. They can incorporate advanced data visualisations, such as charts and dashboards, for better decision support. Multi-step business process applications can now be turned into a one-screen experience that increases usability and efficiency.
The solution includes:
• Professional Eclipse-based IDE, unifying Adobe Flash Builder and the Force.com IDE into a common, highly productive environment for building a variety of Force.com applications
• Code-editor, design-view, browser and cross platform compatibility
• Data visualisations including built-in interactive charting and animation components capable of processing large data sets
• Pre-built integration with Adobe LiveCycle Data Services for client-side data management and synchronisation services, automatically synchronising data between the Force.com database and an Adobe AIR secure local data store on the client, allowing developers to build apps that seamlessly span connected and disconnected environments.
Availability
The developer preview of Adobe Flash Builder for Force.com is now available on the salesforce.com developer website at http://developer.force.com/flashbuilder . Expected final delivery is currently scheduled for the first half of 2010.