future of flash
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- ukit
Someone mentioned this yesterday, I thought it was worth discussing. What do you think the future of Flash will be as the default delivery mechanism for rich content on the web?
Microsoft has a clear competitor in Silverlight which has seemed to fall flat on its face so far but the bigger challenge could be from Javascript based alternatives and their support by Google, Mozilla and others. Already JQuery based animation is an extremely popular alternative for many sites. HTML5 will have a CANVAS tag that allows designers to animate bitmap data using Javascript, and also a native VIDEO and AUDIO tag where you can create your own custom player controlled natively with scripting. It seems a sure thing that Flash will be the dominant technology for the next couple years, but will it be here in 4 or 5?
- harlequino0
Free jet pack with every Flash purchase?
- kgvs720
Open source some of the code like Java? I'm not sure, they've been locked out from the G1 and iPhone.
- PonyBoy0
i prefer to think of it now as just Actionscript...
... since the introduction of Flex and AS 3.0 - developers are springing up going solo of the Flash application completely and are building full applications that can be installed across both Mac and PC platforms (look into adobe AIR)...
... given that AS 3.0 syntax now falls inline w/ECMA standards and is quickly understandable by anyone w/OOP experience... 'Actionscript' is probably not going anywhere for a while.
- ifeltdave0
If Flash stayed exactly the same as it is today, sure it'd be gone in 5 years. But we all know that the software has evolved from a simple multimedia plugin to being a full blown legit application development platform.
Adobe will take Flash places in 5 years that we can't see yet, so I don't see the point in speculating whether or not it'll be gone. Anything is possible, and sure, maybe it'll go the way of the Do-Do and I'll be out of a job.
- CyBrain0
I disagree. I think the more they make Flash ACCESSIBLE to designers and not just programmers, the better the work will be. There are tons of people out there like me who still wish they could do some timeline animation without having to remember to import aspects of a programming language in order to get a single thing to work. I don't think it will go this way, but the visually minded animator has clearly been left out of the equation — and I do mean equation.
- I was disagreeing with PonyBoy, not ifeltdave. However, Flash is not going away any time soon, maybe ever.CyBrain
- <I agree. Flash was/became so successful (imo) because it catered to both crowds.Cptn_Uncanny
- PonyBoy0
Perhaps Flash would be more design-oriented if designers stopped crying and took a moment to learn to script... after-all... scripting is logical... it just takes some time to understand the concepts of building an application...
... if Flash didn't go the way of the application it is now and stayed 'design-oriented'... I doubt we'd have nearly desire to see as much of it as we do now.
I'm a designer and am terrible at math... TERRIBLE... but it is logically and does eventually 'click' if you just hang in there with it.
- Flash is very design-oriented btw... in my silly opinion. :)PonyBoy
- I don't mind learning code. I was pretty good at AS2, but AS3 is an overhaul that's set me years back.CyBrain
- Yes, but the way designers see it is that they keep changing the language with every major release and that overcomplicated the design job and discourages new comers... just from what I've noticed.Cptn_Uncanny
- --the design job and discourages new comers... just from what I've noticed.Cptn_Uncanny
- ********0
AS3
- PonyBoy0
XAML
- ukit0
A year or so ago I would have made the opposite argument...Flash is here to stay forever. But look at the enthusiasm that has been created with JQuery in terms of extending that. Give people a more powerful platform to work with and...it seems like open source is always going to move faster than any kind of proprietary solution.
- canuck0
Flash has changed a lot in the last 5 years. Used to be accessible to designers, but seems to becoming less and less so. Definitely a developers tool these days.
- ukit0
Yeah I think it's a shame to the extent that anything becomes less accessible for designers...designers not developers are good at creating UIs. On the other hand, you could create a good WYSIWYG tool for any technology, not just Flash.
- ********0
Flash has definitely abandoned designers.
- PonyBoy0
all I'm reading is 'wah... I don't want to learn to code cuz I'm a 'designer''...
... sissy's...
... give it a shot... it'll take you more than a couple of intro tutorials and one weekend drunk in your office... it'll take MONTHS to wrap your brain around some things... so what... imagine how much $$ you'll be worth if you can design and having a functioning / working knowledge of the application-building side of things.
:)
I believe in all of you!!
- ********0
Who in the fuck needs scoping, variable casting, and OOP for some goddamn browser applications?
Give me a break...
- you are wrong here, the line between desktop & web apps is blurringzaq
- ********0
Not to mention that it takes twice as much code in AS3 to accomplish the same things from AS2....
Way to go, Adobe.
- acescence0
you can't wear just one hat any more in this game, adapt or die.
- fyoucher10
Flash will always have it's use as a low file size delivery tool and as a 'presentation tool'. For doing animations that you just can't do with Javascript or HTML or just straight code... and for things that are just too time-consuming or expensive to do with video (character animation, for example). It's a step above Powerpoint and a step below full on video production. It's cheaper to create things in Flash from a budget standpoint as well, especially in advertising. A good reason why Flash banner and Flash rich media ads will be here for a VERY long time.
Websites, on the other hand, unless it's a micro-site or unless Adobe steps up and makes it easier to create RIA's...much MUCH easier to create and update and sort out all of it's bugs...then I can totally see other technologies taking over the dev norm.
Also agree with Ponyboy to some extent. I think the dev and design community is progressing. Students and schools will most likely be teaching both worlds...from a design and development standpoint. For most of us, we either went to art school (designer) or come from a computer science background (developer). I think the years ahead we'll be seeing more and more people becoming good at both sides of the fence -- designers who are also programmers -- schools that focus on both instead of just one. This internet business is still new in a sense.
- ukit0
Yeah...I'm with Pony here...
Anyways, all it takes these days is to learn the basics. Once you do that you'll quickly find that any possible thing you want to achieve has already been built by someone else and is available as a tutorial, plugin etc...it's really not that hard.
- PonyBoy0
YOU CAN DO EEEIT!
