Adobe Solutions is a wonderful tool to help companies achieve their marketing and business goals. However, business developers understand that an out-of-the-box solution isn’t always sufficient: every business’s systems must be agile and flexible in order to respond to changing market conditions and achieve a competitive advantage.
Project Firefly is a comprehensive framework for building cloud-native applications, tailored to specific business needs and enterprise workflows, and it’s a great way to gain that competitive advantage. Firefly provides everything you need to build custom web applications that extend the capabilities of the Adobe Experience Platform and Adobe Experience Cloud solutions, using Adobe I/O Runtime, Adobe’s server less platform.
Project Firefly is a set of open-source developer and automation tools to expand your business. Currently, Firefly is in developer preview. Business developers will preview the technology and try to build their own applications. We will then collect the feedback and send it to our product team, who will use the information to further shape product development.
Project Firefly: frontend and backend development tools for end-to-end custom application production
Project Firefly comprises a compilation of resources, using which you can build the custom web applications you need, from initial production to final distribution. Fireflies comprise the following parts:
Adobe Developer Console –Â Our console is the basis for developing your custom applications, allowing you to develop and manage projects while accessing all the tools and APIs you need to build plug-ins and integrations.
Development Engines – CLI, SDK and API, React Spectrum, CI/CD – enables to build custom applications. We strongly believe open source is the best way to develop developer tools and libraries and welcome the community to provide feedback and contributions.
Firefly Services – Use Adobe I/O Runtime to leverage our serverless platform and host your infrastructure and Adobe I/O Events for event-based integration and the ability to publish/use custom events. We also provide direct support for data and file storage.
Adobe Exchange and Adobe Experience Cloud – Submit your custom application for review to Adobe Exchange, where your system administrator can review, manage, and publish your application. So it can be found alongside other Experience Cloud apps.
It makes perfect sense to extend them within the Adobe world, close to your data. No need to switch contexts or authenticate with different usernames and passwords when creating custom apps, now and in the future. The Firefly Project is also safe. You can quickly set API permissions and easily manage user access control.
If you’re used to managing user access control in other Adobe solutions, you’ll be able to open user access control for your custom app right away, as this is handled entirely with the Adobe admin console. All of this will save you a lot of time setting up, deploying and managing your custom apps.
Custom app workflow in Project Firefly
So how do all of Project Firefly’s tools interact? Being an all-included-in-the-package framework, Firefly gives you everything a developer needs to develop and deploy custom applications. Mentioned below is an example workflow, explaining what happens while developing a custom app with Project Firefly:
Because all of this happens in a serverless I/O Runtime framework, close to existing Adobe solutions and data. Using Project Firefly, you can build custom apps like:
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- Custom dashboards or decision support tools: Build apps that use data to help your team make the right decisions
- Adobe Solutions Custom Experiences: Create custom versions of Adobe tools that allow teams to deploy solutions according to their needs and desires.
- Custom integration with Adobe tools: Integrate Adobe tools into your self-developed solution or third-party system of your choice.
- Adobe Solution Extensions – Extend Adobe’s built-in capabilities for your solutions.
Our experts can help you create a customized application for your business, tailored to your needs.
FAQs About Custom Applications
Q. What is Project Firefly in Relation to Custom Applications?
A. Project Firefly is a comprehensive framework designed by Adobe Solutions for building cloud-native, custom web applications. It extends the capabilities of the Adobe Experience Platform and Adobe Experience Cloud solutions.
Q. How Does Project Firefly Benefit Businesses Developing Custom Applications?
A. Project Firefly provides businesses with the tools and resources to create agile and flexible custom applications that respond to market changes and maintain a competitive edge.
Q. What are the Key Components of Project Firefly?
A. Key components include Adobe Developer Console, Development Engines like CLI and SDK, Firefly Services, and integration with Adobe Exchange and Adobe Experience Cloud.
Q. Can Project Firefly be Used for Frontend and Backend Development?
A. Yes, Project Firefly is equipped for end-to-end custom application production, covering both frontend and backend development.
Q. Is Project Firefly Suitable for Developers With Different Expertise Levels?
A. Absolutely. Project Firefly is user-friendly for developers of varying expertise levels and encourages community feedback and contributions.
Q. What Types of Custom Applications Can Be Built with Project Firefly?
A. Developers can build custom dashboards, decision support tools, custom experiences for Adobe Solutions, and integrations/extensions with Adobe tools.
Q. How Does Project Firefly Ensure Application Security?
A. Project Firefly includes robust security features like API permissions and user access control management, integrated with the Adobe admin console.
Q. What Support Does Adobe Provide for Developers Using Project Firefly?
A. Adobe offers direct support for data and file storage, serverless platform hosting, and event-based integration through Adobe I/O Runtime and Adobe I/O Events.
Q. Can Custom Applications Built with Project Firefly Be Commercialized?
A. Yes, custom applications developed using Project Firefly can be submitted for review to Adobe Exchange for publication alongside other Experience Cloud apps.
Q. How Does Project Firefly Streamline the Workflow of Custom Application Development?
A. Project Firefly provides a streamlined workflow by offering an all-inclusive framework that combines development tools, services, and integration capabilities in a serverless environment, making the development process efficient and cohesive.
About Author
Hitesh Dhawan
Founder of Neuronimbus, A digital evangelist, entrepreneur, mentor, digital tranformation expert. Two decades of providing digital solutions to brands around the world.