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Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced further advancements to the Adobe Flash Platform with the beta availability of Adobe Flash Builder 4 (formerly named Adobe Flex Builder), Adobe Flash Catalystand the open source Flex 4 framework.

Adobe Flash Builder is a professional development tool designed to help software developers build rich Internet applications (RIAs). Adobe Flash Catalyst is a new professional interaction design tool for creating application user interfaces without coding. The tools are based on the new Flex 4 framework, an open source framework for building RIAs that will allow developers and designers to more easily collaborate on projects.

Adobe Flash Builder 4 is based on the open source Flex framework and comes with a set of new features to simplify RIA development. Formerly known as Adobe Flex Builder, the new IDE improves basic development functionality, adds new data-centric development features and streamlines the design-develop workflow.

New data-centric development features allow developers to introspect services and use a simple drag and drop approach to quickly bind methods to user interface components, such as interactive charts, graphs, and data grids. These features make it easier to break down information silos and integrate business data from databases and Web services across different organizations. As a result, companies can build user-centric applications for dashboards, e-commerce and self-service Web portals that streamline business processes for their employees, customers and partners.

Also announced today is the newest release of the open source Flex framework that provides a common foundation for both developers and designers to create compelling user experiences that run on the Adobe Flash Platform. The updated Flex framework facilitates productivity and consistency, enabling developers to import functional UI created by designers using Adobe Flash Catalyst and completing the application logic while preserving the design and layout of the user experience.

Adobe Flash Catalyst allows designers to transform artwork created in Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator software into user interfaces that can then be utilized directly by developers to complete the application or site. This improved workflow allows designers to maintain control of the user experience while developers can stay focused on core application logic. Adobe Flash Catalyst lets designers demonstrate and iterate on functional user interfaces of applications at an earlier stage, securing feedback sooner in the development process. The project file is then provided to the developer to add functionality and integrate with servers and services using Adobe Flash Builder.