I got terribly excited about Apollo when I first saw it demoed at Flash on The Beach in December. Apollo is Adobe's new cross-platform runtime, aiming to combine the ubiquity of the browser with the power of a desktop app. In honesty, I think what excited me the most about it was that it was designed to be a framework encompassing a set of existing technologies, all of which I already knew; Flash, Flex, HTML, JavaScript and PDF, i.e. it meant I could add something new to my CV without having to actually learn anything.
So now Apollo is out as a "Public Alpha", along with Flash 9, which has been in Alpha for the last 6 months but is due for release any day now. In the case of Flash 9 I simply couldn't wait for ActionScript 3. I had been designing a Flash isometric 3d game engine, and it just seemed daft to build it in AS2 when a radical rewrite of the language was just around the corner. My need for Apollo was not as pressing, but I started looking at it because of O'Reilly, the tech book people, who have just published Apollo For Adobe Flex Developers Pocket Guide.
It's very unusual for literature of any kind to accompany an Alpha release, especially technical writing of the quality we have come to expect from O'Reilly. And this is, I believe, the first time they have released a book devoted to so young a technology. The reason this book, along with the forthcoming ActionScript 3 Pocket Guide, are out so soon is because O'Reilly now has a partnership with Adobe. But it may also be a reflection of the demand for this breaking technology.
The Apollo Pocket Guide is a gentle introduction and a very quick read, just about enough to get you started and give you the idea - which is all you should expect from an Alpha release really. If you want the Definitive Guide at this stage you're going to have to start writing it yourself (and I'm sure O'Reilly would love to hear from you). Even so, after many tedious early adoption adventures in the past, I really appreciated having this book in my hand, like a sturdy rudder to grasp through unfamiliar waters.
Article comments
1 - Stefan Schmalhaus
Very entertaining thoughts on early adopters. I enjoyed the reading!
You should have mentioned that this book is also available as free PDF download from the Adobe Labs site.
2 - John Dowdell
Hi, the O'Reilly intro to Adobe Apollo alpha is indeed "a gentle introduction and a very quick read, just about enough to get you started and give you the idea", and I believe its text was finalized before the alpha release was locked down.
For ongoing discussion of usage, I'd recommend the Apollocoders mailing list on Yahoo Groups, which seems to have a bit more action than the Apollo webforum on Adobe Labs.
Here's one forum discussion on configuration issues, which may contain the missing key on your situation.
There are other Apollo discussion groups springing up, but the Apollocoders mailing list currently seems to have the most interactive conversations.
jd/adobe
3 - zenbullets
Thanks John,
If anyone does want a go at fixing my Apollo issues, the bugs are detailed here.
4 - John Dowdell
That link goes to the Adobe webforums on Apollo, and the question turned out to be "Can you tell what is preventing me from HelloWorld to work?" There were three replies from Mike Chambers trying to clarify what might be different there. Mike wrote that book on Apollo, and travels the world showing people Flex, writing new projects, writing new tutorials. You've gotten attention right from the top. :)
For that question, you might post a short little bump to that original thread... you already had The Man working to get the details on your setup, and I suspect it's a mere work overload which caused that last set of basic background info to remain unanswered. Does that sound good, or are you past a HelloWorld app already...?
jd/adobe