The hands-on recipes in this cookbook help you solve a variety of tasks and scenarios often encountered when using Adobe AIR to build Rich Internet Applications for the desktop. Thoroughly vetted by Adobe's AIR development team, "Adobe AIR Cookbook" addresses fundamentals, best practices, and topics that experienced web developers and application designers have inquired about most. This collection also includes solutions for using this runtime environment to build truly innovative applications. Ideal for working developers who want to learn the nuances of Adobe AIR through experimentation and troubleshooting, the recipes in this book include discussions of why and how the solutions work.You'll find recipes to help you: build an AIR application with Flex, Flash, or HTML and Ajax; create a database and connect it to your application; put together native menus for PCs and Macs; work with the Service Monitor Framework; utilize the Adobe AIR Update Framework; create branded desktop experiences with custom chrome and custom application icons; develop mash-up applications by consuming Flickr, YouTube, Twittr, and EBay web services; and, distribute your AIR application with the AIR browser API and much more. "Adobe AIR Cookbook" not only includes dozens of recipes from rising stars in the AIR development community - David Tucker, Rich Tretola, Marco Casario, and Koen De Weggheleire - it also features the best solutions posted by visitors to the Adobe AIR Cookbook community website hosted by Adobe and O'Reilly. If you're ready to expand your skill set with Adobe AIR, this is the book you've been waiting for.