I'm glad this has come up as its something I've been discussing over at alt.comp.lang.coldfusion(browser wars thread) I really see flash as the future in regards to cross browser compatibility. Its widely supported as pointed out and at least you know your apps will look and act the same on all browsers which support it. Granted there may be a few problems with accessibility and search engines but I think these issues will be addressed in future. I'm not talking about flash for massive intro pages but to replace pains like cfgrid. Especially with the new features of NEO and falsh 6. I realise that there may also be greater download times but if the same approach to light web page development in HTML is adopted for flash files (i.e. sensible use of graphics) this may become less of a problem. One thing I dont know is if flash files are cached.
Just my 2 euros! Kola > -----Original Message----- > From: John Dowdell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: 08 February 2002 20:54 > To: CF-Talk > Subject: RE: Jeremy Allaire interview on DevX > > > At 12:11 PM 2/8/2, Cantrell, Adam wrote: > > Does anyone else see the sick irony of this? Macromedia is moving > > to replace Java with Flash as the client-side GUI because java is > > too slow, handles differently in various VM's, and is basically a > > big POS, but on the serverside, their whole next release will be > > built on this same technology. > > I love irony too, but maybe it's more useful to distinguish a language, > from a particular interpreter of that language, from the distributed > capability to use that language. > > Java as a language is great, has a lot of nice features. There's nothing > intrinsically wrong with it. > > On your server you usually know which Java machine you're dealing with. > It's workable, practical. > > But in browsers we've got different versions of competing Java Virtual > Machines to deal with, and a decreasing total audience. To send a set of > Java instructions to the world at large you have to account for all their > differences in interpretation. > > It's just like the browser wars: although the spec is codified, there are > various competing proprietary engines out there. > > The advantages the Macromedia Flash Player offers over every other > client-side web technology are that: > (a) it's a single engine of known ability; > (b) it is already widespread over desktop computers and increasingly > over portable and embedded devices; and > (c) its small size and wide usage makes its update rate very quick... > most consumers had the last version of the Player within six months > of its release. > > > Neo sort of straddles a middle ground... it is built to run atop a variety > of server-side Java engines, and so requires more work than running on a > single known server, or using the single known Macromedia Flash Player. > That's work that we have to do, though, and if you're running on a tested > and recommended Java-based server then the differences in Java > implementation should not be visible to you. You're just dealing with a > single server, and the execution environment is known and predictable. > > > Summary: The issue isn't so much "Java vs Flash vs C-based ColdFusion", > more like "how can you predict and control the environment in > which code is > executed". > Realworld capability is *much* more significant than merely writing a > language or an interpreter. > > > > > please don't take this as a flame to macromedia, more of a social > > commentary. > > No worries, but if you could trim the quotes that'd be cool too, thanks... > I always sort of shudder when I see my own sig in someone else's post.... > ;-) > > jd > > > > > > > John Dowdell, Macromedia Tech Support, San Francisco CA US > Search technotes: http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/ > Offlist email risks capture by the spam filters. I may not see your > email if it's not on the list. Private one-on-one email options are > available via Priority Access: http://www.macromedia.com/support/ > > ______________________________________________________________________ Dedicated Windows 2000 Server PIII 800 / 256 MB RAM / 40 GB HD / 20 GB MO/XFER Instant Activation � $99/Month � Free Setup http://www.pennyhost.com/redirect.cfm?adcode=coldfusiona FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
