The Microsoft .NET platform includes a broad range of products and technologies aimed at delivering distributed applications. Macromedia MX is designed to integrate with .NET to enable the creation of Rich Internet Applications.
Macromedia MX features a variety of integration points with .NET technologies:
- Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 includes web service connectors that allow you to connect to .NET web services and consume them on the client side. Full WSDL introspection makes it easy to program using web services in Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004.
- Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 includes an XML connector component that connects through ASP.NET to data sources delivered through ASP.net.
- Macromedia Flash Player is available as an ActiveX control for Microsoft Internet Explorer; it is included with Microsoft Windows XP and is available for Microsoft Pocket PC. The player offer a rich user interface for applications using .NET through either ColdFusion MX 6.1 on the server, or directly to ASP.NET and C# with Macromedia Flash Remoting for .NET. Using these connections, Macromedia Flash Player can remotely call CLR code as if it were a local ActionScript object.
- ColdFusion MX 6.1 runs on Microsoft Windows .NET servers; integrates with Microsoft servers such as SQL Server, IIS, and Exchange; and supports integration with the .NET Framework through .NET web services, and with .NET objects through COM APIs.
- Dreamweaver MX 2004 offers strong support for building applications with ASP.NET including authoring tools, behaviors, and support for standard ASP.NET controls. In addition, Dreamweaver MX 2004 supports authoring and using Microsoft .NET web services, making it an ideal rapid development environment for ASP.NET applications.
- Macromedia Flex presentation server supports .NET by connecting to systems built with .NET via SOAP and web services. The services oriented architecture of Macromedia Flex makes it easy for organizations using .NET to leverage their existing applications, and add an intuitive user interface to increase the value of previous and future .NET development. In the future, the Macromedia Flex presentation server will on top of .NET.
Overall, Macromedia MX provides a powerful way to get more out of IT investments in .NET technologies by expanding the range of developers who can use .NET, accelerating .NET web development, and enabling the use of .NET for building Rich Internet Applications.
