Design and create functional applications that interact with remote data sources. You get a thorough introduction to the latest Flash Builder tools learning how you can use the built-in wizards, MXML or pure ActionScript 3 to build information-rich applications for the browser or AIR applications. Hand's on tutorials guide you through each iteration including building user interaction, charting, incorporating audio and video, customizing the UI; and a code repository provides re-usable code that you can modify and deploy in your own applications.

From Social Media to consumer and business services, there is a growing need to integrate information from diverse databases in order to present interactive visualizations that provide added value to data at a glance. Map applications that deliver location-based data are the most obvious example of this type of service. Another example is an insurance claim application that permits the claimant to record very specific damage records via the Web by marking the location of damage on a 3D image of their vehicle. With a 95% computer penetration, the Flash platform is the dominant browser app for delivery of such Rich Internet Applications and, with the introduction of Adobe AIR, it has a leading market position for RIAs that reside on the desktop. Data Visualization with Flash Builder demonstrates the implementation of the new Flash Builder toolset to both the design and developer communities. Unlike Flex Builder, the new Flash Builder (2010 release) has been designed to simplify the interaction with remote data and the customization of the user interface. This book highlights these two aspects through the development of Information Rich Applications that couple data loaded from different locations (remote sparse data) in highly interactive visualizations. The book is made of five sections, each describing the building of an application from the design to the final implementation. The sections are: * Your first Information Rich Application * Building User Interaction * Charting * Working with Audio and Video * Customizing the interface Each section features a project that is detailed step-by-step to provide the reader a working knowledge of the techniques described in the section. The book will be coupled with a blog and a code repository. The blog will be used as a platform to promote the book and to interact with readers after the publication.

Charting and multimedia are two vital tools for data-driven applications. Learn about the main components of the chart library included in Flash Builder, and see how to build and customize widely used charts. Turning your attention to the multimedia capabilities of the Flex framework, you will review the multimedia components built into the Flex library, and learn how to use ActionScript to manipulate video and audio files. Charting and Multimedia is the third of five articles that will be compiled in the book, Data Visualization with Flash Builder: Designing RIA and AIR Applications with Remote Data Sources. Each full-color article illustrates specific aspects of Flash Builder data visualization with techniques to employ them. The book, Data Visualization with Flash Builder, features exclusive material in the form of a related real-world tutorial project to go alongside each article. This article is equivalent to 37 print pages.