We communicate more and more mobile, and because Flash cannot meet the mobile demands of modern businesses, it is trailing behind in the rat race. The HTML5 vs Flash debate is disappearing from the global conversation.
Where new elements have been added to allow users to manipulate the layout for better referencing, some esoteric CSS qualifiers have been removed to increase ease of use. Overall, HTML5 works with greater audio and video capabilities and has reached a state of full interoperability.
The public condemnation of Flash by Steve Job for his inferiority to HTML5 in a publication called “Reflections on Flash”, triggered the dissent of Flash towards obsolescence. The incompatibility of IOS with Flash and the transition of YouTube from Flash to HTML5 for video support tipped the balance more in the direction of HTML5.
Here’s where we’re going if you want to move forward:
- HTML5 (The Overzealous New Guy)
- Adobe Flash (The Retiree)
- The Pros And Cons: Generational Collision
- Adjusting To The Paradigm Shift
For almost two decades, Flash technology has been the standard for multimedia creations. On July 25, shortly after Google’s decision to no longer support Flash in ads, Adobe announced plans to completely remove Flash by the end of 2020.
What does this mean for the future of Flash? Since Google Chrome is now the most popular web browser, they largely dictate web development trends. And in this case, their position poses a huge threat to Adobe, to the point that even Flash developers who were hesitant to launch an official migration to HTML5 before now decide to finally migrate. Web developers have long spread the HTML5 debate against Flash, but Adobe’s announcement may have brought the debate and migration to HTML to an all-time high.
Despite the recent negative press, Flash still has a respectable brand with more than three million developers relying on Flash technology to meet their needs for content creation and distribution. Since Flash and HTML5 occupy similar territories, it is impossible not to view them in a comparative manner.
Before moving to HTML, it’s important to understand why Flash became archaic and what mechanics make HTML5 such a compelling alternative – the answer lies in interoperability.
HTML5 (The Overzealous New Guy): What is HTML?
Hypertext markup language (HTML) is designed to structure web documents (that is, web pages). We understand this language as a summary of its parts – through a series of texts, tags, elements and attributes, which define how web content is translated via the browser.
The text is surrounded by html tags of open and closed parentheses with programmed values that define the structure. For example, <title> text </title> would define the title structure of the web page; the entity between the html tags is called an element. Elements also have attributes to assign qualities such as color, font, and size. HTML standards use these basic components to program enhanced Web functionality.
HTML5, the latest version of HTML, may have sealed the deal in the HTML vs Flash debate, considering that HTML5 works reliably in areas where it previously struggled with adaptive rendering, which has greatly expanded the HTML capacity.
Where new elements have been added to allow users to manipulate the layout for better referencing, some esoteric CSS qualifiers have been removed to increase ease of use. Overall, HTML5 works with greater audio and video capabilities and has reached a state of full interoperability.
The new features have been designed for backward compatibility. This means that even if HTML5 removes third-party add-ons, such as plug-ins and APIs, in order to run content by embedding code in the text of the document itself, mobile and desktop users have the same interactive experience.
Adobe Flash (The Retiree)
Formerly Shockwave (and before that MultiFlash),
The Flash platform first came to the market 21 years ago, revolutionizing audio and video streaming, providing developers with a multimedia platform capable of handling vector graphics and faster using a language called ActionScript.
Adobe Flash is not limited to audio and video, developers also use Flash to publish interactive websites, create animations and develop rich Internet applications (RIA). Adobe Flash essentially gives developers the ability to design immersive web user experiences that go beyond conventional standards.
Flash technologies are provided in proprietary integrated development environments (IDEs) with all of the necessary authoring tools. They provide the ability to easily create and publish RIA functionality without any coding knowledge, if any. In other words, FDI maximizes interoperability.
Publishing to Flash IDEs creates compressed Flash Shockwave (.swf) files, which provide consistent performance across all browsers when used with the Adobe Flash Player plug-in, a free application for channeling Flash content .
While somewhat basic on the mobile front, Adobe Flash offers incredibly compact file formats, short download times, and high-quality graphics that easily adapt to different browser views and resolutions. These features, combined with a wide range of existing media and development investments, make Flash a viable tool for creating enhanced user experiences on the web.
The Pros and Cons: Generational Collision
ADOBE FLASH
- Mature features, familiar to developers, adopted by the vast majority of legacy browsers, consistent technology across all browser platforms.
- Requires Adobe Flash Player plug-in to work, frequent crashes, security issues, new browsers no longer support Flash player, mobile browser support has been completely discontinued, service life of the battery is halved on mobile devices, incompatible with IOS, gropes with Stage3D.
HTML5
- SEO friendly, open-source language that can support Flash-like technologies, evolving interface, Adobe Canvas allows users to draw graphics, make photo collages, animations, and real-time video rendering with JavaScript, less maintenance required, secure, IOS and Android compatible, interoperability, requires less processing power because of its lightweight framework, storage options
- App stores don’t acknowledge HTML5, fewer offline capabilities, less than ideal gaming functionality, not fully supported by all major browsers
Adjusting To the Paradigm Shift
We communicate more and more mobile, and because Flash cannot meet the mobile demands of modern businesses, it is trailing behind in the rat race. The HTML5 vs Flash debate is disappearing from the global conversation.
The bottom line: HTML5 will eventually overtake Adobe Flash, and we can’t deny it.
The facts are there. This does not surprise most people; The public condemnation of Flash by Steve Job for his inferiority to HTML5 in a publication called “Reflections on Flash”, triggered the dissent of Flash towards obsolescence. The incompatibility of IOS with Flash and the transition of YouTube from Flash to HTML5 for video support tipped the balance more in the direction of HTML5.
A software technology group would be well served to prepare development or migration to HTML5 from Flash for mobile and web technologies. However, maintaining Flash for superior aesthetic functionality and legacy assets has its merits for the time being until HTML5 is fully implemented.
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