Before getting started, note how Microsoft and Adobe are taking two different approaches: Microsoft is trying to bring the .Net desktop development community to the web. Adobe is conversely trying to bring web developers to the desktop! (Kevin Lynch)

There are four main options for AIR local storage: Local Shared Objects, File System, Encrypted Local Store, and the embedded SQLite database. Shared Objects are available in the Flash Player as well; all of these options are obviously available in AIR. Note that the data size limitation for Shared Objects does not exist in the AIR runtime!

Performance considerations. Shared Objects read and write very quickly. File system access and encrypted local stores are typically be slow in writing. Embedded SQLite databases are typically the best combination of speed and random access of items. Greg highlighted the AIR_LocalStorage_Demo app created by Jason Williams that demonstrates the speeds of the four storage methods.

Local Shared Objects. You can serialize memory resident data structures. Great! However, it runs in synchronous mode.

Encrypted Local Store. Used to store sensitive data. The price is the slow write speeds.  Also runs in synchronous mode. All data is serialized using ByteArray.

File System. Obviously important for management of documents. Can run in sync and async mode. The File and FileStream objects work together to point to a file and read/write data. The File object helps remove you from the pain of dealing with Mac vs. Windows environments with properties like File.userDirectory, File.documents.Directory, File.desktopDirectory, etc. It also has methods for opening Open and Save dialog boxes native to the environment as well as copying/moving/deletion methods.

Embedded SQLite Database.  Nice thing about them is that they are self-contained in a single file and require no external software installation to begin using them (support is built into the AIR runtime). Even supports transactions. And the database supports large amounts of data: SQLite has a theoretical limit of over 2TB. Supports ANSI-SQL 92.

However, it’s not a full-blown enterprise database server, obviously. So you lose things like stored procedures, enforcing data type constraints, foreign key constraints, and primary keys must be integers. It also isn’t a multiuser environment.

Session evaluation. I am unhappy to say that I was disappointed with the session. It was high-level, the coverage of code samples (when they weren’t passed over completely) consisted of merely reading the code back to us. I recommend viewing the recording if you have zero knowledge of data storage in Flex and AIR, as it would serve as a decent first-baby-step introduction for you.

What ultimately prompted my thoughts was the article Web 2.0 Needs Adobe by Tom Yager. His discussion is very flattering for Adobe, although ColdFusion isn’t mentioned anywhere. Neither is it mentioned in Cringley’s equally flattering article An AIR of Invisibility. There’s a reason for this. They’re focusing on the user interface of apps, which is really what defines the perception of how responsive and powerful an app can be. Fretting about ColdFusion getting the back seat is like fretting that your favorite athlete wasn’t nominated for an Oscar; it wasn’t really up for consideration.

So, user interface. Now that’s something to fret about. Many of us don’t like to think about the UI, and that has to change! User interface has always been important when users form their impression of an app, and that high priority is applying more heavily to web apps as they begin to vie for user acceptance with their heavier desktop brethren.

Most ColdFusion developers are using HTML for their user interface. An industry migration will hopefully migrate that median toward AJAX-enhanced HTML or Flex interfaces for web apps, and of course AIR for desktop apps. ColdFusion won’t be going anywhere, as our internet connectivity is always going to need a server-side component.

So how are we to react to these articles’ evaluations of AJAX and Flex? In a way, they are depicting JavaScript (and thus AJAX) as a dinosaur with wings. It is powerful, it got a shot in the arm with the popularity of AJAX, and it can do amazing things. But it’s still a “dinosaur”. It is old technology trying to keep up. Enter Flash and Flex. The new kids on the block. They’re more modern–but they’ve had time to mature–and they just out-perform AJAX in what they can accomplish. Now tack on thoughts about how much AJAX functionality Adobe has put into CF8. What’s the point if AJAX is inferior to Flex? What does it all mean?

It’s a big internet out there. Various scenarios call for various solutions! Whereas it is a good idea for us as ColdFusion application developers to learn Flex and start using it when UI needs call for it, the ultimate point is that we start improving our UIs from plain HTML. Start putting more effort into the user interface. We’ve had it easy in the past when simpler, less sophisticated interfaces were accepted on the web, and that time is coming to an end as the web pushes forward as a viable application platform.

Is it urgent that we start learning Flex? I feel that AJAX and Flex will be sharing the web application space for a long time. Yes, Flex and Flash might be Adobe’s ticket for bringing web apps to the next level, but their commitment to AJAX is very clear. That is evident in the AJAX support in CF8 and AIR. Learn Flex if you can. If it’s just too much for you to handle right now, AJAX is a fine step–more palatable and familiar for HTML developers–that will let you focus on the more important point: Improving your app’s user interface.

And once you do, you can reference this awesome Scriptaculous Cheat Sheet designed by Amy Hoy of Slash7.  She did a great job at covering the basics, keeping it simple.

Now you don’t have to. The awesome Ajaxload service will generate a variety of typical AJAX loading animated GIFs that you can customize to your site’s color scheme. Awesome!

What was the main motivation for the new site design? Microsoft IE 7. Thanks Microsoft, your new browser completely choked on my old WordPress theme. It’s for the better, though, because it moved me to action, and this new design is awesome!

I came this close to dropping WordPress and going with BlogCFC. Not so much out of a dislike for WordPress, but due to discomfort with PHP and WordPress templates in general, compared to thorough knowledge of ColdFusion. Alas, I stuck with WordPress for a few reasons: (a) It forces me to tinker a bit with PHP. It’s a good thing. (b) WordPress has a billion themes, and I’m picky at how my site looks. (c) BlogCFC just feels a bit too plain sometimes. This is not an insult to Ray’s fine work.

So here I am, with a fine theme called “Scary Little” by The Scary Little Monkey. It features some fun JavaScript effects, a great stylish look, and let’s not miss the AJAX-driven search, which is great fun!

I’ve tweaked it a bit to include my tags (aka categories) in the menu navigation and to make pages (not blog entries, but the CMS pages) fill the whole site width, with no side menu.

Future tweaks I hope to get to: (a) A new header graphic that is flash-driven to incorporate just a tad of stylish animation, perhaps even an occasional image change; (b) Tabs at the top of the header, for moving between the different major website sections (I’ll expound in a moment); (c) Either a better editor or tweak the default editor.

The site will be expanding. It is not going to be just a blog. Some ideas I have for expansion (probably about in order of seriousness): (a) A front-end site for my freelance development work; (b) A Trac-driven projects page, to be used with my freelance work; (c) Finally set up my “Land of Nazin” story blog! (d) An Apple Computer history wiki site. Yes, I know there are some out there, but I want to make one that is really nice. After all, I’d enjoy the process of making it since I enjoy reading about it.

Stay tuned!

Aptana’s strength, then, from what I can see in some of the screencasts, is that is supports HTML and JavaScript and CSS all in the same editor, providing outline insight and even error detection with all the code intermixed. This seemed pretty nice.

Being that it is still in its infancy, I’m hard-pressed to try it at this time. After all, Eclipse can do most of what Aptana claims to do with various plugins, and much more. The thing, though, is that Aptana is also offered as a plugin for Eclipse itself. I actually just downloaded JSEclipse and the ATF today, but if I find these mediocre, maybe Aptana would be worth a closer look.

Okay, so I stole the dancing line from Tom Yager. But only because it is so hillarious and yet appropriate. I plan to continue using that line.

But what I’m so excited about is an absolutely awesome site called 24 Ways. This is a great site to take the average Joe Developer and transform him into a web demigod! I haven’t had a chance to read the articles closely yet, but they cover a wide span of topics (from CSS to DOM to AJAX and beyond), and the articles have great links to other sites that are just as rich in great lessons and examples in modern web development.

It’s enough to make my geeky heart skip a beat.

Check it out: CFAJAX.

For those of you unaware, AJAX is Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. Imagine the dynamic capability of JavaScript, but with the power of your server-side functionality in ColdFusion. That’s what CFAJAX will give you!

For instance, in the past, if you wanted a list of information that would dynamically change depending on user input, what would you do? Your ColdFusion page would load ALL the information into the page, and you’d use JavaScript to filter/display the information. This can be slow if the data is large, or if it takes a long time for your server to process it in one large clump. With CFAJAX, you can create just the shell of the page, and your AJAX code would pull the appropriate data from ColdFusion, based on user input, as needed. It is not dissimilar to Flash remoting, except without having to use Flash!

I am excited about this. I can already think of an app where this will be useful. I have an app that, depending on which user is logged in, may have a page that loads extremely slow, because it has to pull a lot of data, all of which is hidden based on default form options. So it seems like a needlessly slow-loading page. However, I had to load the data into the page, because if the user unchecks a certain checkbox, this list of information must be displayed. With AJAX, I don’t have to load the information; I can wait until the user unchecks the checkbox, and THEN load the information at that point, but without having to do a screen refresh. Can’t wait to do this next week.