Adobe Flash. How long left?

[Deathwalker666]

Hi all.

I'm sure there's been loads of questions on this, and sorry if it sounds really ignorant, but this has been worrying me for a while. I hope I've posted this in the correct section. Here goes...

I've been a Flash designer for a while and it's something that I really enjoy. It's just recently I've been getting worried about how long Flash has left? What with Apple not supporting it, and HTML 5 around the corner. If I want to continue web development work, do you think it advisable to learn another technology, just in case? Or do you think Flash will continue being supported?

Again, sorry if this has (and I'm sure it has) been asked before. Hopefully someone could give me some information and/or reassurance that Flash will continue to be a viable technology in web development.

Thanks anyway guys, and cheers for any info you can give.

[peptobismol]

Flash will be around still, for a few years at least. I think the drop in mobile service is a foreshadow to flash's decline in desktop browsers as well. People aren't willing to spend the money to build 2 versions of their site, Flash and html, especially in this economy. Why not build one version in html5? That's going to be the trend.

Youtube is planning an all html5 already. It works pretty well last time I saw it.

Flash will probably be used in a niched gaming market since they've introduced stage3D. You'll still see it used to make websites but on a smaller scale. It won't be a viable web dev technology. I don't think it was ever at that level people expected it to be. You never saw a viable all flash merchant site for example. You see a lot of flash banners dancing across your screen though :)


I would start reading up on html5. Branch out to other areas like database design. There's always going to be a need for that whatever front end tech is dominant.

[tango88]

My opinion is that it doesn't matter whether Flash is around or not - you should learn new technologies ANYWAY.

As a web designer, it's not good to be attached to any one technology. I started with Flash (and I love Flash), and then got to learn about php, xml, css, and now HTML5 and Javascript.

We need to be as flexible as possible; after all, that's what Adobe is going to do too.

[hpp]

HTML/CSS/JS version 5 it is still a long way to go, and not to mention that many of the possibilities that flash has still cant be done using the html triumvirate.

Comparing both technologies is dumb, one is a mark-up language format and the other a multimedia platform OOP based. Both have strengths and faults, so in the end its up to you to choose which to use based on what you want to accomplish.

Flash is been declared dead every time a new technology emerges, I've been using flash as my main tool for 10 years now and it's always the same.
DHTLM, AJAX, Silverlight, jQuery, and now html version 5. All tagged as the new flash killer.
animation.about.com/od/relatedtopics/a/silverlightflash.htm
killersites.com/blog/2005/ajax-vs-flash/
kirupa.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-94068.html

Be careful when listening to trends, while making your choice. Misinformation can be very deceiving. ;)

Be aware of the audience you are trying to get to, and find solutions to get there.
HTML5 is still a long way to go to be ready and consumable, that depends on browsers being capable, and people having their latest version.

ishtml5readyyet.com/
gizmodo.com/5461711/giz-explains-why-html5-isnt-going-to-save-the-internet

As for a solution to get around a problem, i made my own, framework, in AS3, and then other im still developing in html for mobile feeding from the same source, so i dont have to make two diferent structures, and solving the iMobile (and now general mobile) issues.

So get informed and decide, do go with (pseudo)tech trends.