Adobe, Facebook build apps programming platform

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Adobe Systems Incorporated, a provider in software and technology services and Facebook, a social networking site, today announced a joint effort to enable Web developers to create more compelling applications using the Adobe Flash Platform and Facebook Platform.

Officially supported by Adobe and Facebook, the new ActionScript 3.0 Client Library for Facebook Platform is a free and open source programming language library that is expected to be a complete resource supporting all Facebook application programming interfaces (APIs) including Facebook Connect, said a press release.

Documentation, example applications and code are now available at http://www.adobe.com/go/facebook, for developers to get started building rich applications with Adobe Flash and Flex software, and Facebook Platform, it added.

“Our vision is to empower the world's developers to make the Web more social with Facebook Platform and through Facebook Connect,” said Ethan Beard, director of platform marketing, Facebook.

He added that with their official support of the ActionScript 3.0 Client Library for Facebook Platform, their innovative community of developers can more easily use the Adobe Flash Platform to create the next generation of applications that would allow users to engage with the people they care about in even more expressive ways.

“Combining social functionality with the Adobe Flash Platform gives the millions of Flash developers the tools to create Web experiences that are truly differentiated,” said Bryant Macy, director of product marketing for the Platform Business Unit at Adobe.

He added that the Flash developers are already creating great applications for Facebook, and the new ActionScript 3.0 Client Library for Facebook Platform would accelerate the pace of social innovation on the Web.

Many developers have already started using Adobe Flash software, including the open source Flex framework, to build applications on Facebook, or use Facebook Connect, and the new ActionScript 3.0 Client Library for Facebook Platform affirms that applications created with the Adobe Flash Platform would continue to be an integral part of the Facebook ecosystem.

The ActionScript 3.0 Client Library for Facebook Platform is open source and fully supported by Adobe and Facebook — developed in collaboration by Adobe, Facebook and the community of developers.

The new ActionScript 3.0 library for Facebook includes support for 60 new APIs, which are consistent with current Facebook Platform APIs to ensure seamless implementation, the release added.

ActionScript 3.0 is the object-oriented programming language for Adobe Flash technology, which is ideally suited for developing rich Internet applications (RIAs).ActionScript 3.0 joins JavaScript and PHP as officially supported client libraries for Facebook Platform, the release added.