Thoughts on Flash

**Brandon W** · 10-28-2008, 04:57 PM

I have just started writing code in Flash in one of my computer classes at school. He gives us code and we just enter it but it seems to be quite interesting. What do you guys actually think of Adobe Flash CS3?

Is it well designed? Would it be good for an entire site? Would it be good just for a few small things on a website?

In general. What are your thoughts on Flash because I am considering learning it, not in GREAT depth but in some depth.

Jordan · 10-28-2008, 05:03 PM

I've never coded in Flash so I don't know about it. Banners in Flash seem to be alright and even headers for sites. Entire sites in Flash are cool but I prefer a normal webpage. At home Flash pages are incredibly slow because of my slow connection.

**WingedPanther** · 10-28-2008, 08:44 PM

Since I'm on dialup, Flash is extremely annoying (and a primary reason why I have Adblock Plus on FireFox). Some of the Flash movie sites really annoy me because they take forever to download and then usually suck. Using it for small games or video streaming is reasonable, but a site should always be functional if the flash isn't used outside those cases.

**Brandon W** · 10-29-2008, 12:39 AM

OK thanks. I think I might learn flash for something new and interesting

I like what it can do

Maybe even offer a site fully built in Flash instead of XHTML. It will have both options but XHTML would be the default

**Xav** · 10-29-2008, 11:50 AM

Flash gives you much more scope to design amazing and interactive webpages. However, it comes at a cost (and no it's not a prostitute). SEO can suffer, especially without virtual URLs, and of course, it takes time to load. Accessibility is an issue.

**Brandon W** · 10-30-2008, 02:45 PM

Thanks Xav. I will only learn it for snippets.

**Xav** · 10-31-2008, 01:26 PM

Actually, Flash can be indexable by Google, if you set up virtual domains. An XHTML version would be a good idea, if a basic one at that.

**Brandon W** · 10-31-2008, 01:52 PM

Yer, I believe that Flash can have XHTML tags actually in the script.

**Xav** · 10-31-2008, 02:00 PM

Really? What purpose would they serve?

**John** · 10-31-2008, 02:00 PM

Flash sucks, not only does it require third party plugins for browser compatibility, its rendering speed is awful and it is a dying technology. You might as well spend your time learning PASCAL because it is just as useless. Just about any effect you can imagine for websites, can just as easily be done in JavaScript with better rendering and performance.