Flex on Rails: Building Rich Internet Applications with Adobe Flex 3 and Rails 2

Leverage the strengths and speed of Adobe Flex and Ruby on Rails to build dynamic Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) for the web.

* Covers the latest versions of Adobe Flex (3.0) and Ruby on Rails (2.0)
* Covers application security, skinning the Flex user interface with CSS, unit testing, and how to extend applications with AIR
* Includes advanced topics such as WebORB for Rails, RubyAMF, and handling rich media with Red5 and JRuby

Flex and Ruby on Rails are two of the fastest growing, most exciting web development technologies available today. Flex enables the rapid development of rich and engaging user experiences and Ruby on Rails dramatically simplifies the development of database driven web applications. Together Flex and Rails make a powerful combination that makes it easier than ever before to create sophisticated Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). This book explains everything that one would need to know to get started with developing RIAs with Flex and Rails. It begins with a basic introduction to Flex and Rails frameworks and then dives into the development of real world application. Finally, the authors pair Flex and Rails to show readers how to build Flexbased applications that connect to backend databases (in this case, MySQL) using Rails. This allows developers to build intuitive interfaces to their web apps, beyond what they've previously been able to so with standard web technologies, such as AJAX.