Flash: The Code that Can't be Killed Adobe Flash or what was once known as “Macromedia Flash,” is a software platform used for multimedia purposes like authoring vector graphics, games, animation, and other internet applications. The use of Flash is declining but it is still used to add streamed video or audio players, and other interactive multimedia content onto web pages. Of course, the big question these days is not “What is Flash?” it is “is Flash dying?” The debate has raged for years, is flash an irrelevant form of coding or does it still have a few uses after all?
So is it dead? A few have said that Flash is already dead or that it is on the way to extinction. However, many more web design and development experts seem to think that instead of dying, Flash is just simply changing. Flash needs to change because now there are other things like HTML5 that can do a lot of the same things as Flash. Does this mean that HTML5 is on top and that Flash will die out? Maybe someday, but for right now Flash still works and people know it works and so they are still using it and therefore Flash is not dead.
Why do People Think it is dying? Many people think that Flash is dying because people like Steve Jobs are trying to push HTML 5 as the new and improved Flash. HTML 5 can do what Flash does and according to some it can do the job better. Many think that because HTML 5 is a newer technology and offers many of the same things that they need to make the switch from Flash to HTML 5 therefore leading to the Flash extinction. But the other side of the argument is that Flash is proven and true and gets the job done so why make the change? Flash was actually first released in 1997 which means it is more than 15 years old and HTML 5 is a brand new technology with stable recommendations. However, because HTML 5 is more new, it is not uniform and it is not accepted across all browsers, but Flash is supported on nearly all browsers and many Android devices.
Where is it going? Flash is going in the direction of open-source because that is where everything else is headed as well. Flash is now focusing more on games. HTML 5 is the future of the web, but it is going to take a very long time to get there because as of right now HTML 5 is nowhere near the power of Flash.
So What Should I Use? So what should you use, Flash or HTML 5? Guess it depends on what you are hoping to use it for and how you want it to work. If you want something that is older, works on many different sites and browsers, and is tried tested and true then maybe you want to go with Flash. If you want to get a jump-
start on the future of technology and get a head-start of everyone else then maybe HTML 5 is for you. In the end, you need to choose the one that suits your needs better.