Adobe Systems released May 10 the Spry Framework for AJAX to extend the Adobe Engagement Platform and accelerate the development of engaging experiences.

The Spry Framework for AJAX is a JavaScript library that Web designers can use to build additional functionality in their Web pages for a richer end-user experience, the company said. Spry is HTML-centric, so it enables Web designers to use their existing skills to design rich pages with Asynchronous JavaScript and XML without having to learn new languages or adopt a full programming model.

Adobe releases two open-source libraries to help developers bridge Adobe Flash and Flex technology with the hot AJAX style of development. Click here to read more.

Adobe officials said the Spry framework is targeted specifically at Web designers and the Web design community's need for a lightweight framework. Moreover, Adobe officials said Spry is very flexible and can be used in conjunction with other AJAX frameworks or with the Flash family of products. Spry is designed to bring AJAX to those in the Web design community who are not well-served by other frameworks.

The first release of Spry is a preview of the data capabilities that enable designers to incorporate XML data into their HTML documents using HTML, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and a minimal amount of JavaScript, without the need for refreshing the entire page. In addition, the Spry framework was designed so that the markup is simple and the JavaScript is minimal. And the framework can be used by anyone who is authoring for the Web in their tool of choice, the company said.

The Spry Framework is available on the Adobe Labs web site free of charge.

This article was originally published on eWEEK.com.