Cairngorm is a framework for rich Internet application (RIA) development. More specifically, Cairngorm is a package of Actionscript 3.0 classes that help implement a number of proven design patterns to create a generic starting point for your Flex application architecture. By adapting a number of proven J2EE solutions for the RIA world, Cairngorm helps you deal with the complexity of managing state and encapsulating your business logic into reusable components while taking into account the asynchronous nature of service requests within a Flex application.

By focusing on the Cairngorm workflow, this article is intended to illustrate the "how" of Cairngorm as opposed to focusing heavily on the "why." Building an application with Cairngorm tends to follow a repetitive sequence of steps that, once they are clear, make Flex development a fairly simple and organized process. The intent of this article is to walk you through these steps.

This is a reprint with permission of an article that was originally published in the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update Volume 2 Issue 3 in October 2007 (click here to subscribe). If you would like to download the source you can find it here. I have another Cairngorm sample appliction which you can get via Subversion at http://code.google.com/p/remotesynthesis/ where you will also find the same example built with the Mate Framework. If you are interested in the Mate Framework, you can find my article on that topic in Flex Authority Volume 1 Issue 1, which you can subscribe to here.

Three new projects and three updates this week. The question I have this afternoon, unrelated to ColdFusion, is, do we get to celebrate DOW 10,000 all over again when this eventually comes back around? As a follow up, how stupid do James Glassman and Kevin Hassett, authors of the now infamous DOW 36,000, seem in retrospect? They probably haven't skipped a beat and are rushing out a book called "DOW 1,000" to cash in on the recent decline. Anyway, back to the topic at hand...

I have been working behind the scenes for the past month or two to secure the support necessary to host another Flex Camp Boston this year. Thanks to the generous support of both Adobe and my employer, Universal Mind, I can now definitively say that Flex Camp Boston 2008 is a go. We don't have a ton of information yet, as we work on cost, speakers and sessions, but be sure to save the date, December 12, 2008 at Bentley College in Waltham from 8 to 5pm!

Last year's event, also at Bentley, was a huge success bringing in nearly 300 developers from around the New England area and, to my own surprise, around the country to hear some of the top Flex and AIR developers from both inside and outside Adobe speak. At the time, this was by far the largest Flex Camp event yet (and for all I know it may still be). I am working on not just matching the success of last year, but hoping to exceed it, so I think this will be an event you simply don't want to miss as a Flex or AIR developer. I haven't updated the Flex Camp Boston site for this year's information yet, but look for that soon, and be sure to watch that and/or this site for more details soon.

One new release and five updates this week as well as a lot of announcements. I made sure to release this update tonight to help calm the markets tomorrow. Your banks may be failing and credit may be disappearing but lest anyone think that the world of ColdFusion open-source is anything but healthy.

No new releases and three updates this week in the world of ColdFusion open-source...but let's get to why you are really here: yes, I noticed the lowly Dolphins beat the Patriots yesterday. I'd say this was the first sign of the apocalypse but there are a few things to consider: a) the Pats didn't have Brady or Mulroney; b) the Pats always seem to play down to the Dolphins level (see 2006); c) I promised my first-born to some fellow named Rumpelstiltskin.