The release in March 2004 by Macromedia included an SDK, an integrated development environment (IDE), and a Java EE integration application known as Flex Data Services. Since Adobe purchased Macromedia in 2005, subsequent releases of Flex no longer require a license for Flex Data Services, which has become a separate product rebranded as LiveCycle Data Services. An alternative to Adobe LiveCycle Data Services is BlazeDS, an open-source project that started with code contributed in 2007 by Adobe.

In February 2008, Adobe released the Flex 3 SDK under the open source Mozilla Public License and so Flex applications can be developed using any standard IDE, for example Eclipse.

Official Site: http://www.adobe.com/products/flex/

AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), or Ajax, is a web development technique used for creating interactive web applications. The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user requests a change. This is intended to increase the web page’s interactivity, speed, functionality, and usability.

AJAX is asynchronous in that extra data is requested from the server and loaded in the background without interfering with the display and behaviour of the existing page. JavaScript is the scripting language in which AJAX function calls are usually made.^[1] Data is retrieved using the XMLHttpRequest object that is available to scripting languages run in modern browsers. There is, however, no requirement that the asynchronous content be formatted in XML.

AJAX is a cross-platform technique usable on many different operating systems, computer architectures, and web browsers as it is based on open standards such as JavaScript and the DOM. There are free and open source implementations of suitable frameworks and libraries.

Here is a nice and short introduction to AJAX: Vikram Goyal’s Blog: Your 30 second guide to AJAX

Text is a library that allows you to generate PDF files on the fly.iText is an ideal library for developers looking to enhance web- and other applications with dynamic PDF document generation and/or manipulation. iText is not an end-user tool. Typically you won’t use it on your Desktop as you would use Acrobat or any other PDF application. Rather, you’ll build iText into your own applications so that you can automate the PDF creation and manipulation process. For instance in one or more of the following situations:

• Due to time or size, the PDF documents can’t be produced manually.
• The content of the document must be calculated or based on user input.
• The content needs to be customized or personalized.
• The PDF content needs to be served in a web environment.
• Documents are to be created in “batch process” mode.

You can use iText to:

• Serve PDF to a browser
• Generate dynamic documents from XML files or databases
• Use PDF’s many interactive features
• Add bookmarks, page numbers, watermarks, etc.
• Split, concatenate, and manipulate PDF pages
• Automate filling out of PDF forms
• Add digital signatures to a PDF file
• And much more…

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. It is used to generate, visualize, structure and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing.

It is an image-centered diagram that represents semantic or other connections between portions of information. By presenting these connections in a radial, non-linear graphical manner, it encourages a brainstorming approach to any given organizational task, eliminating the hurdle of initially establishing an intrinsically appropriate or relevant conceptual framework to work within.

A mind map is similar to a semantic network or cognitive map but there are no formal restrictions on the kinds of links used.

The elements are arranged intuitively according to the importance of the concepts and they are organized into groupings, branches, or areas. The uniform graphic formulation of the semantic structure of information on the method of gathering knowledge, may aid recall of existing memories.

Have a website or collection of sites you’d like to search over? With Custom Search Engine, you can harness the power of Google to create a search engine tailored to your needs.
Create a search engine tailored to your needs
* Include one website, multiple websites, or specific webpages
* Host the search box and results on your own website
* Customize the colors and branding to match your existing webpages

This is a really great feature by Google. Here is my custom search engine:

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=015990611519693047589%3Ah-nqecsm_ws

RSS (which, in its most recent format, stands for “Really Simple Syndication”) is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a “feed”, “web feed”, or “channel”, contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that’s easier than checking them manually.

RSS content can be read using software called a “feed reader” or an “aggregator.” The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed’s link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user’s subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.

The initials “RSS” are used to refer to the following formats:

• Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)
• RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90)
• Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91)

RSS formats are specified using XML, a generic specification for the creation of data formats.

Also visit: http://rss.softwaregarden.com/aboutrss.html

http://www.rss-specifications.com

PMD scans Java source code and looks for potential problems like:

• Possible bugs – empty try/catch/finally/switch statements
• Dead code – unused local variables, parameters and private methods
• Suboptimal code – wasteful String/StringBuffer usage
• Overcomplicated expressions – unnecessary if statements, for loops that could be while loops
• Duplicate code – copied/pasted code means copied/pasted bugs

AndroMDA (pronounced “Andromeda”) is an extensible generator framework that adheres to the Model Driven Architecture (MDA) paradigm. Models from UML tools will be transformed into deployable components for your favorite platform (J2EE, Spring, .NET). Unlike other MDA toolkits, AndroMDA comes with a host of ready-made cartridges that target today’s development toolkits like Axis, jBPM, Struts, JSF, Spring and Hibernate. AndroMDA also contains a toolkit for building your own cartridges or customize existing ones – the meta cartridge. Using it, you can build a custom code generator using your favorite UML tool.

What Is Web 2.0 Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software by Tim O’Reilly 09/30/2005

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) communications protocol. BitTorrent is a method of distributing large amounts of data widely without the original distributor