Adobe Helps PHP Developers Create Rich Internet Applications

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Java might be the programming language of choice for enterprise applications, and Java developers might be further along when it comes to creating rich Internet applications (RIAs), but PHP is thriving in the enterprise and Adobe has no plans to leave PHP developers behind as it improves its tools for building rich applications.

Flex is Adobe's open source framework for building and maintaining RIAs. It can create RIAs as Web-based applications in the browser, using Adobe Flash Player as the runtime engine, or it can use Adobe AIR to run applications on the desktop. Either way, Flex presents a very straight-forward learning curve for PHP developers, according to Kevin Hoyt, Group Manager, Platform Evangelism at Adobe.

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Flex is designed and built on ActionScript 3, which is an object-oriented language that should seem somewhat familiar to PHP developers. MXML is used to define how the user interface looks and feels, and Hoyt said developers experienced with any markup language, such as XML, HTML, SVG, will be comfortable with MXML.

It gets a bit more complicated when a PHP developer needs his or her application to talk to the servers on the backend and exchange data, and part of the reason is because PHP developers are very different animals from Java developers and other software developers found in the enterprise.

"PHP is at a crossroads," Hoyt said. The language is trying to figure out how it fits in with the enterprise yet retain its approachability. Many PHP developers are more likely to be in a departmental role in their organization and picked up PHP to do a quick scripting job with something quick and free. They often set out to add or create a bit of functionality and end up becoming the PHP expert.

Hoyt said one of the impressions he brought back from ZendCon, a PHP conference held in late October, was that PHP developers are trying to get their head around service-oriented architecture (SOA) and RIA, which represent another step in the learning curve.

PHP developers are also less centralized than Java developers. Whereas Java has frameworks like the Spring Framework with wide adoption, PHP has more frameworks than one can count, as well as a significant number of PHP developers who don't use a framework at all.

The challenge for Adobe is to make is easier for these PHP developers to create RIAs with Flex and the company's developer tools.

Right off the bat, Flex offers a consistency for the end user experience that PHP developers won't get with a user interface created in HTML. The Flex UI runs on Flash Player, so the PHP developer looking for a quick and easy solution won't get bogged down tweaking his or her code for each browser and operating system that will run the application.

"That's a significant time investment," Hoyt said. "Flex offers consistency right out of the box."

Flex features like charting (to create pie charts and columns, for example) are easier to use than building charts with HTML and CSS. There is also a clean separation between the client and server, which allows a designer to work on the UI and the developer to create the application.

To further help PHP developers, Adobe formed a partnership with Zend, the leading commercial backer of PHP and maker of the popular Zend Framework.

PHP developers using the Zend Framework have an easy way to exchange data with servers on the backend. Flex developers can use Action Message Format (AMF), an open protocol that makes communication more efficient, to exchange data between their application and a database. A version of the protocol called Zend AMF is integrated into the Zend Framework. Zend AMF replaces the deprecated AMFPHP.

Adobe Flash Builder 4, which is currently in beta 2, also offers a number of features for PHP developers. (Flash Builder is the new name for the product formerly called Adobe Flex Builder.)

Flash Builder asks if your project is a PHP project when you begin, and it will deploy the Zend Framework for you if it is. Adobe's partnership with Zend also allows PHP developers to use Flash Builder in Zend Studio.

Flash Builder also makes it easier for PHP developers to connect to data and services, not only with Zend AMF, but by helping developers access XML data or other web services that use protocols like SOAP using a wizard-type interface. Other data-centric development features include easy implementation of paging and even data management.

PHP developers looking for quick and easy solutions can now use Flex and Flash Builder to take their applications to the next level, creating rich Internet applications with better user interfaces and a more improved experience for end users. Much of the work connecting to data sources is handled by the Flash Builder software.

"It's our job to make it easier for developers, while still enabling them to deliver engaging content and applications," Hoyt said.

Read More: Java Developers Finding a Home at Adobe Flex »