Adobe enhances developer tools

Adobe upgrades its Flash Player and releases new technology and tools for developers

Adobe has upgraded its Flash Player software, and released new technology and tools to help developers create rich web applications.

The Adobe Flex 2 product range includes a free, entry-level Flex 2 Software Development Kit (SDK), designed to encourage more developers to create Flash applications.

“We are targeting a large group of developers [so] it’s important to have a productivity toolset,” said Adobe’s Andrew Shorten. “This was not strong in previous versions.”

The release also features Flex Builder 2, an Eclipse-based integrated development environment that includes pre-built controls and services for application development and user-interface design.

Shorten said Flash Player 9 offers faster application runtime capabilities due to a newly optimised ActionScript Virtual Machine. He added, “We are trying to make it feel like a desktop application – but in a plug-in.”