Adobe continued their courting of Java developers with help from Spring Source, with the recent announcement that the SpringFramework will add official Flex support with their new project called “Spring BlazeDS.” The announcement signals an important step forward for the Flex platform, which utilizes builds on many Java mainstays with their Eclipse based IDE and Blaze Data Services (built to run in JEE Servlet containers).
The Adobe press release discusses the collaboration:
This collaboration will make it easy for Java developers to create enterprise-class rich Internet applications (RIAs) using Adobe Flex(R) software, a cornerstone of the Adobe Flash Platform, and Spring, the de facto standard for enterprise Java.
John K. Waters of Adtmag.com described the joint project this way:
This collaboration gives SpringSource a bigger presence in the RIA a market, and gives Adobe a means to pull Java developers to the Flash/Flex environment. Adobe is still the market leader, but the company has to fight to keep ahead of a growing pack of worthy competitors. Microsoft and Sun Microsystems, among others, are offering competitive RIA products for developers.
This project should give Java developers another compelling reason to consider using Flex.