Adobe is planning to tackle the complexities of developing
rich internet applications in the next version of is Flash
platform, which is available as a beta version from thecompany's
Labs site.
The software separates the tasks of designing user interfaces
from programming, allowing designers to draw user interfaces in
Photoshop. These can then be imported into a new graphical form
design tool called Flash Catalyst, which creates XML code for the
user interface.
Andrew Shorten, platform evangelist at Adobe, said, "Now
designers can create user interfaces and developers produce the
code to support the user interface."
He said Flash Catalyst enables designers to prototype the user
interface of Flash applications and test them using sample data.
Once the designer has finished, a Flash programmer takes over the
project, creating the connections to databases and web services
needed to build a functional application.
