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Flex Article
Developing Flex RIAs with Cairngorm Microarchitecture – Part 1: Introducing Cairngorm
Steven Webster
Adobe Consulting
www.richinternetapps.com
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Clarifying the Definition of Frameworks
- Applying Design Patterns
- A Short History of Cairngorm
This six-part series presents an open-source architectural framework to Flex developers called Cairngorm. In this series I explain the thought leadership behind Cairngorm, the design challenges that Adobe feels Cairngorm addresses best, and the projects for which Cairngorm is an appropriate skeleton for development.
Using the Cairngorm Store sample application, this series explains what Adobe Consulting thinks about scoping, estimating, and delivering a Rich Internet Application (RIA) when basing it on Cairngorm from the start. I also explain the various Cairngorm concepts and take a deep dive into the implementation of the Cairngorm Store.
Finally, I demonstrate some of the principal benefits of delivering an RIA based on this established microarchitecture by adding a new feature to the existing Cairngorm Store application from the point of view of a Cairngorm developer. By this stage in the series, you see the benefits for yourself.
Cairngorm isn't the only way to build a Rich Internet Application, of course. However, Adobe Consulting has helped numerous customers and partners succeed in delivering large-scale Flex RIAs by building upon their preexisting Flex application development knowledge using the information contained in this series.
This comprehensive introduction covers the full spectrum of Cairngorm, from understanding the motivation and concepts of Cairngorm to architecting your own applications upon this established and supported microarchitecture.
Instead of delving into code from the outset, Part 1 offers a context and background for understanding the Cairngorm architecture. I discuss frameworks and clarify the difference between an application framework and an architectural framework. I then explore design patterns and introduce the microarchitecture concept. Finally, I give a brief background on the emergence of Cairngorm: its history and where it is headed—its roadmap.
In Parts 2–6, you will develop a retail commerce application using both Flex and Cairngorm on the client-side tier and a new or existing J2EE infrastructure on the server-side tier.
Requirements
To complete this tutorial you may want to install the following software and files so that you can follow along:
Macromedia Flex
About the author
Steven Webster is the practice director for Rich Internet Applications at Adobe. Previously, Steven was the technical director at iteration::two, a world-leading Rich Internet Application consultancy based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Steven is the author of Reality J2EE: Architecting for Flash MX and coauthored ActionScript 2.0 Design Patterns for Rich Internet Applications (ActionScript 2.0 Dictionary) and Developing Rich Clients with Macromedia Flex with Alistair McLeod. Steven speaks regularly at conferences and user group meetings on technical and business aspects of RIAs. Steven is the core contributor to the open-source Cairngorm project, a microarchitecture for RIAs based on J2EE patterns which was innovated by iteration::two over a number of Flash and Flex RIA developments.
