Reader’s Poll! Do You Work in Flash?

Reader’s Poll! Do You Work in Flash?

on Dec 27th 2010 with 84 comments

Web.Appstorm.com released a poll a week ago that got me thinking… how many web designers/developers work in Flash nowadays? Is Flash a part of your web designer arsenal?

Web Designers: Do You Use Flash?

It seems like at some point a few years ago (perhaps right around the time Apple released their iOS), I stopped using Flash with any regularity. Sure, I still opened it up once in a while, but something in the back of my mind turned off and I eventually stopped using it as one of my standard workflow programs.

The funny thing is, back when I did use Flash, I loved it – the workflow is smooth (and newer versions got even better), the deployment process is easy, and it’s one of the few programs that you can design, code, and publish from. Furthermore, there are a LOT of amazing websites out there that can only be made with Flash… and every day there seems to be another amazing site or app that used the Flash platform as the foundation.

As a web designer, I find myself trying to discover ways to replicate cool “Flash” effects with HTML/CSS/JS, which thankfully, is usually pretty simple. This leads me to my question: How many web designers are using Flash as one of their “go-to” web design tools? Am I the only one that’s using Flash less than ever? Or am I just missing out on some awesome possibilities by neglecting the program?

Let the Discussion Begin!

There was a day in age when the “Flash vs HTML” debate was hot and heavy… nerves were high and everyone was eager to see who conquer the web. The debate seems to have cooled off a bit lately, but I’m curious to hear what the opinions are right now. Web designers are the heart and soul of the internet, so it’ll be interesting to hear what you guys/gals have to say on the matter. Join the discussion and post your own opinion down below!

Brandon Jones is MDNW on Themeforest
 
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Brandon Jones is the old Wptuts+ Editor. From sunny Southern California, Brandon has been designing, drawing, photographing, and coding the world around him for the past several years. Not content to pick one media and stick with it has left Brandon with a broad range of talents that have allowed him to work on projects ranging from grungy digital art kits to Fortune 500 software prototyping. He loves design, but even more, he loves the passion and creative spirit that embodies the design community. Check out Brandon's work at ThemeForest.  

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  • http://daniel-rauber.de Daniel

    Hi all! Very interesting poll!
    I don’t like flash at all. I think it isn’t really usable anymore, but I don’t know if it was some time. Flash often takes a lot of ressources and many mobile devices don’t support it. I think many things can be done with HTML,CSS and JS, too.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Thanks for the comment Daniel – I agree with you on most of these points – towards the end of my own use of Flash, I mostly just used it for “rapid prototyping” projects, which Fireworks actually does a lot better in my opinion. That said, it’s still pretty popular for high end projects (movies, car advertising, etc.).

  • http://ccpmultimedia.com Connor Crosby

    I have not worked with Flash much. The only time would be for a video player for a site I made. But if you are talking about using the software and making things in it, then no, not at all.

  • http://ccpmultimedia.com Connor Crosby

    Just a note, you forgot to categorize this. The URL says uncategorized.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Thanks Connor! Fixed :)

  • http://duvieusart.net Nicolas

    I use to use Flash a lot back when I was in school but since I started working, either be my employer or clients, they all ask me to stay away from it.. so I don’t use it.. But I try to open it once in a while to stay familiar with the interface and the code..

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Thanks for the comment Nicolas – interesting that you have clients asking you to avoid it (I did too in lots of cases). I wonder if this is something that’s common.

    • http://www.luke-king.com Luke

      I have also experienced this. I find the clients who ask me to stay away from it all use iphones and the ipad.

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  • http://www.mrblonde.ca Mr. Blonde

    I use flash for animations and do the odd flash banner if someone needs one. Thats about it. I still can build a whole site in flash but thanks to iOS people are usually steering clear of flash content. It’s a shame because Flash CS5 is really nice to work on.

    I heard some smart phones are allowing Flash now, maybe that will help bring it back.

    Also flash isn’t too SEO friendly, but there are ways of making a Flash site spider-able apparently. I have yet to figure it out.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Hi Mr. Blonde – Yes, there are ways of making Flash crawlable, but I’m not sure if a flash site will ever really be able to compete with a robust HTML/CSS/DB driven site… then again, the web has turned up lots of unlikely cases of technologies surviving against all odds.

      I’ll agree that Flash CS5 is nice to work in… Flash sites seem to be relegated to niche uses nowadays (advertising mostly), I wonder how much the iOS has to do with this (and whether new mobile OS’s like Android will turn the tide the other direction).

      • Adam

        One thing that I’d add to that is that Flash/SWF files tend to be used for browser-based entertainment such as games even more than they are used for advertising, especially with the popularity of libraries such as Flixel.

        I think the general consensus is that for a website, you stay away from Flash unless you need non-HTML 5 media playback or file handling.

      • Olek

        Flash competes with robust HTML/CSS/DB driven apps. Being also a developer i love using Flex (a part of Flash technology) to write apps. If you are aware of drawbacks like lack of custom URLs and pages not bieing cashed by web browisers (btw. ajax pages aren’t cashes neither), development process of a complicacted web application is mush easier than standard HTML apps.

        • Pieter

          It’s easier to make a complicated site in Flash, too bad it’s a horrible experience for the user…
          Good web developers take the best option, not the easiest one.

          • Adam

            And good web developers don’t blame the tools for a horrible user experience.

          • Pieter

            touché, I guess.
            But in my experience starting on a Flash app is simply starting off with a worse user experience. I like being able to middle click on a link and making it open in a new tab. I like being able to press ctrl+cmd+D and see OSX’s built-in dictionary pop up.

          • Adam

            Sure, I agree with you Pieter – certainly with the vast majority of websites starting with an HTML/CSS/JS base is a better idea. My only point was that using Flash doesn’t automatically equate to a poor user experience, Flash can certainly be effectively used as part of a whole.

  • Jake

    I remember hearing people use Flash for things like the banners of webpages so they can be universal sort of like a external style sheet. but then again some mobile phones won’t be able to view the page and even some computers, and for that reason i don’t use it.

  • Narmer

    I use Flash when it comes to multiple file uploads. The only thing that I consider Flash still usable. Waiting for a HTML + JS solution. Not HTML + CSS + JS + Flash.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Interesting point Narmer – not being a Flash expert, it’s surprising to hear that one of the things it’s “best” at is handling file uploads. I’ll have to check that out :)

      • John

        If you look at any major email app (Gmail, Yahoo, etc) all the file attachments are in flash and js. It is one thing flash can be good for.

  • http://www.ogvidius.com/ Ogvidius

    I never use flash for web design. I’ve seen a couple of nice flash sites but generally they seem over the top and sluggish. I do use flash regularly for short animated pieces or motion graphics though. I love the simplicity of the animation system, but HTML/CSS all the way for web design. I’m all for trying new things out in web design but I often find flash websites a bit excessive. Hopefully with more options and technologies becoming available for animation with HTML/CSS/JS we’ll see a shift to bringing in animated parts with these instead.

  • http://adrusi.com/ Adrian

    I disagree that flash is the only app where you can go through the entire process of design. I like to do most of my projects in the text editor whenever possible. Of course this is usually only possible if you let yourself rely on css3, but I made my portfolio http://adrusi.tumblr.com/ without photoshop or any alternative, just a text editor and a clear mental goal.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Interesting point Adrian, I suppose a text editor is another viable contender for an “all in one” app – so is Fireworks if you want to get technical. Flash, to me, has been one of the few places where you get real WYSIWYG style publishing… that said, in my later days of using Flash, I hardly ever used the drawing tools and mostly relied on managing everything from the Actionscript (even object creation, etc.). Thanks for the comment!

  • sereal

    I don’t know why, everytime my brother uses Flash extensively [game, websites etc...] – my old 2.4 silver MacBook Pro won’t start on next boot up. anyone got same problem ?

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      LOL – Never heard of that one myself, but it’s definitely not a vote of confidence for Flash games ;)

      • John

        or for Apple if they can’t build a system that can handle flash.

  • http://www.jimb0.com jimb0

    I’ve been a Flash user for 10 years, but now am using it less and less. I’m going to stick with it for creating games, but will be looking to make HTML/JS games as well in the future. I use it for character animation, I like the animation workflow, and haven’t had the opportunity to try ToonBoom. I also create a lot of animated presentations with Flash, but potentially moving to After Effects with mp4 export.

    I’ve been working on creating subtle Flash-like effects for sites using JS and CSS, and I don’t miss Flash for that.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Great comment Jimbo – thanks for sharing – it’s interesting to hear what people use Flash for in their own projects.

  • http://eskimirza.com Eski Mirza

    I used to create websites only in Flash during the time when tables were widely used in HTML for layout purposes. But when I learned about CSS and how to create semantic websites using HTML, I have totally left Flash out in the cold. Although I still think that it Flash is a great tool to learn some programming (AS 3.0), the basis of AS 3.0 helped me a lot when I was looking at jQuery as an alternative.

    I do get some Flash projects once in awhile, and it is useful so that I do not get left behind entirely in the world of Flash web development.

  • http://www.umbraprojekt.pl mingos

    Flash is evil :D.
    I’ve had several requests from clients not to use Flash. Only one client requested a Flash-based website, but I refused to do it (not because of having to use Flash, but because of the money she was willing to spend – a ridiculously low sum, perhaps halfway enough for a simple HTML site). I solve my visual sweetness needs with jQuery.
    Then again, my target is the low budget part of the market (usually simple websites for startup companies and personal blogs), where the use of Flash appears to be pretty much marginal.

  • http://digitalreaction.net rob

    At this point I use Flash only when:
    a. I am updating something we did in Flash previously for a client
    b. An existing client requests it and even then only after fighting the good fight against it…

    Any new client that requires Flash work we actually refer out at this point!

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Hah! I’m with you on A – the rare times that I do open up Flash nowadays, it’s usually to update or extract assets from an old project.

      The beauty of a client “demanding” a specific technology is that they’re usually willing a pay a premium for it ;)

  • http://twitter.com/hubriz Art DeGuzman

    Nice article here.

    I’m not aware of it. I almost don’t use Flash anymore when HTML5 and CSS3 started when it comes to real projects. jQuery did most of the simple animations and transitions on simple web page. Most of clients don’t want Flash on their web sites so I have to adapt. I used Flash more when I was studying before and perhaps it help somehow when dealing to tweak Flash-sites.

    I’m still interested on learning HTML5 and CSS3, and quite settle on Flash/AS3 basics.

  • Claudia

    I’ve been designing and developing for a long time. But I never have use Flash for a project.

    I just dont like it. I think its because all the horrible websites I saw an see today that make with flash (the 90s type of websites). Most of the effects done with flash can be replicated with css + jquery. Even in school I hate when a teacher recommends flash for an effect that I know can be done in a much cleaner way.

    I accept that there are few projects where flash is the right way to go. But I think they are just a few, and you have to master it.

  • http://www.agendaurbana.com.br Gabriel

    Hi! I see Flash being widely criticized and abandoned lately. But I love him and the advocate. It was the first program I learned to use and do amazing things. I made up a prototype operating system by using it along with Zinc, you can do with two great programs and very easy. I confess that I also dropped it a bit, I prefer a site with more than jquery packed with Flash, but in my perception, it is because of misuse of it, we have great sites like http://motionandcolor.com/. Anyway … not want to tell my children that one day there was Flash, but to have the greatest pride in teaching them to use it. (from Brasil :)

    • Pieter

      http://motionandcolor.com/ is a great example of misuse of Flash.
      Flash should only be considered when you want to do something that’s impossible using web technologies (html/js/css/…). The effect on that site is surely possible with some javascript and at least my browser wouldn’t lag while scrolling if they had done it properly in javascript.

      • Gabriel

        Yeah, is possible. But I mean, you can have much the same result with raw HTML. And Flash has another good thing: it works exactly the same in any browser on any system in any language …. already in the CSS you have to do a line for IE, one for Firefox, Chrome to another…
        And always there’s still some difference from one to another.

  • http://twitter.com/immysl immysl

    In my country, people think that all beautiful websites are built in flash or to make it beautiful flash should be used. So, the usual sites that don’t use flash at all, have terrible code that don’t adhere to the web standards at all. Tables are still used for layout and a lot of HTML attributes instead of CSS. I know this is quite alarming, but this flash mentality has made the web designers not look into professional non-flash web design.

    Anyhow, I hate the idea of using flash for simple websites. You can design non-flash websites easily as CSS3 and jQuery have come to the rescue. Another advantage of it is that, these non-flash websites load a lot faster which is by all means very good SEO-wise.

  • # Fez

    I used to use flash for animations and banners. Stuff like a fancy navigation and banners that would fade in or slide from left to right. However it’s bad practice to build your nav in flash and since then I decided to use JS alternatives.
    Frankly speaking some of the alternatives available via jQuery are sooo much easier to implement.

  • Fabio

    As autodidact I started to use Flash because it helped me to realize a site in almost total visually workflow. Now – specially after I learned something about html + css – I can see some limitations and I started to learn a different workflow.

  • http://www.google.com/profiles/ajsc50 angel

    i think this: choose the right tool for the right project, it is good if html5, css3 and jquery can do many things now, but (by now) flash have a lot of capabilities, more that them. it is not better one thing or another, it is matter of choose the right tool.

  • http://www.sendoushi.com sendoushi

    I kind of agree with immysl and angel.

    On my country everybody likes a bit of “fireworks”. Flash enables me these fireworks in a very simple way.
    Besides this, I knows its not much of an ethic but people around here still think that Flash gives 3x more the time to do and so… they pay more for a Flash website.

    HTML sites around here are really not well coded, with tables and such but clients don’t care about that (insanely). They just want some cheap website, unless, it’s a flash website.

    Other bad thing about clients from here is that they’re always changing some stuff even after agreeing so… In my experience with both technologies, as I code everything on Flash, I still think that Flash is easier to change some stuff.
    Some examples that make me use flash: positioning (since most clients like full-browser websites), some classes/widgets (still don’t know how to do with less effort some stuff that I do on Flash), love for AS3…

    So I must say that I still use a lot Flash for websites for a lot of reasons but it always depend on which client i’m working on and which project. I still think that Flash is not worth if it’s a simple website!
    I think Flash should be used only for games, websites that are more complex, entertainment websites … But there should be a way to code AS3 on HTML ehehe that would be awesome!

  • http://behance.net/omerercan omer

    how can ppl call theirself a web designer and not know flash whatsoever?

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Interesting point of view – I was actually forced (forced?) to take several Flash based classes in college (only a few years ago) as a required part of the graphic design curriculum. I definitely think learning the basics is important to any web designer – it’s a fantastic platform to learn the principles of animation, and it’s a creative juggernaut until you hit the point where you realize that it’s not entirely business/SEO friendly. Thanks for the comments omer.

    • Pieter

      Flash is a fancy cross platform animation/programming player. It has nothing to do with the web other than that it can be plugged into a webpage.

  • Bruce

    A few years ago while I was studying website design and CSS I thought Flash was the future. Maybe it was one site that I liked that had a fantastic design and great menus. Maybe it was because I was in Thailand and all the big names were jumping on it. Well, I’m back in Thailand and they’re still using it – even the most basic sites. But as a user I really hate Flash. It’s all about presentation in spite of content. But you still have to use it because they think that all the bells and whistles need to be used to prove yourself as a designer and prove your company has what it takes… Or so it seems to me.

    I have Flashblock installed on FireFox because most of the uses of Flash are distracting, moving for the sake of stealing your attention, adds and some useless gadgets of web design that the newbie designer throws in.

    But then again, what do I know? Apple seems to be doing pretty well with all its prettiness in spite of customization by end users. I don’t like thumbnail views but Apple says they’re pretty so I can’t change it. Too Flashy for me.

  • Michael

    I used Flash a bit in school, but I avoid it all the time now… I just hate using the program. The interface to me is odd and I have a better time “relating” to what I want to do better in After Effects and such. If Flash was more user-friendly with the time line and such I think people would use it more plus I am lost when it comes to the Action Scripting.

    At work, my bosses want to use more flash and to that extent they want to buy templates, which I am against since half the time the templates are never labeled (or noted) enough for my tastes to know exactly what I am looking for and what the code is doing.

  • http://jonprestonstudios.com Jon

    I just used it off of ActiveTuts for some sliders. Plus a client of mine gave me a template with the piecemaker to use. But I’d really like to learn some JQuery to do some good sliders. Flash, I just dunno about. It’s a difficult program for me to use, as I ended up copying the source files when a.) my compiler in Flash screwed up so I couldn’t make my different sized slider, and b.) the code got too difficult to follow in Actionscript. Lol, I really did try to do it all on my own before I copied, I swear!

    On that note, can anybody show me the way to a good tutorial with a Jquery slider that’s good for a portfolio page? With the scrolling thumbnails?

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  • Lindsey

    At my firm I am strictly a web designer and do not do any coding. When I am finished with a design I slice it up and hand it off to our web developer. This being said, I use Flash in small doses as a banner or animation to spice up a client’s site or in a slide show type format.

    However, I do not like to create any of the elements in Flash, I usually create everything in Photoshop and import the psd into Flash – which works well for what I do!

  • http://www.phpmycoder.net PhpMyCoder

    Flash still has its place on the web today, and though I hate to admit it, I think we’d be lost without it. That said, I try, wherever possible, to substitute HTML5/CSS/JavaScript in place of an SWF, but sometimes that is just impractical.
    When it comes to games, Flash easily takes the cake. Yes, 2D platformers have been ported to HTML5 using canvas an JavaScript, but they certainly can’t boast elegant tweens, complex graphics, and script libraries that are available to all Flash developers and designers. Until HTML5′s canvas tag is supported by a majority of the internet, Flash will reign supreme as it has for the past fifteen years.
    Though it is a useful tool for the online gaming industry, Flash’s acceptable shouldn’t extend much further. Entire Flash websites are an unacceptable SEO nightmare that went out of style several years ago. They should be replaced with HTML5/CSS2 (and where necessary CSS3) sites. The Flash platform was never intended to be the front-end for an entire site, nor should it be used for in-page elements that could just as easily be create with JQuery. Since this is my general area of work, I unintentionally avoid Flash, but for others this may not be the case.
    While HTML5/CSS3 are still gaining support, I still firmly believe that we should ignore Flash to expedite it’s phasing-out. Flash provides great utilities for performing tasks that are a pain and sometimes even impossible in non-HTML5 compliant browsers. Using Flash as a fallback for websockets, workers, or WebSQL databases is appropriate and flexible since it is supported on most (non-mobile) browsers.
    What’s the final word? HTML5 and CSS3 are always preferable where available and should be the standard for all websites. Exceptions can be made where games require a stable platform or applications require features not implemented in older browsers. HTML5 is a great new technology we should embrace, but Flash still has its uses, and it would be foolish of us to ignore some of the great features it still provides.

  • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
    Author

    I’m actually surprised no one has brought up using Flash for “rapid prototyping” applications (or websites). The team I worked with for 5 years used it all the time as a foundational tool when building bigger data-heavy sites because you could prototype ideas and UI interfaces so quickly. Sure, we threw everything away when we handed off to the development team, but Flash enabled us to get so much done during the creative phases of projects…

    Anyone else use Flash for rapid prototyping and testing out concepts before going into big, expensive dev phases?

    • CitizenF

      that is a totally acceptable usage for flash. others will argue that keynote is better. imo its up to the people making the mockups.

    • http://jabanalabs.com wdalhaj

      Hey B..that was clever poll..and using Flash for prototyping..man..its great idea..i never thought about using flash in such way..
      See flash is losing its flavor..i stopped using it on web sites..instead CSS3 is making the hit..;)
      i use it only for Educational or Commercial presentation..and some times when i make web site for someone for free :p

  • http://www.redrovermg.com Leon

    As much as I hate to admit it, Apple technologies avoiding the use of flash really hurt it’s importance in terms of usage. Where as a simple flash media player was acceptable, now my clients want a media player that plays on the ipad and iphone as well. While Nike may be able to afford 2 seperate sites, most clients will want one site that plays nice on all platforms.

    Personally I only use flash for game development these days.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      As much as I hate to admit it, Apple technologies avoiding the use of flash really hurt it’s importance in terms of usage

      Yep – every time I consider going back to use Flash for a project (even just a small personal project), I usually shy away from it for this reason.

    • Adam

      But surely you provide a Flash fallback media player? For those many users for whom an HTML5 video player won’t work. All of the common HTML 5 media players such as VideoJS run a Flash video player on IE (as much as it pains me to admit it, a lot of people still use it) – so you maybe utilizing Flash without even realising it.

  • http://www.bloomer.k12.wi.us MacMechanic

    My primary experience with HTML and Flash is in K-12 Education.

    Prior to the emergence of the iPad, I was not really aware of how hard my machines worked when using a Flash intensive site. Since then I have become quite aware of how my computer’s fans crank up when I go to certain sites. I can only imagine what kind of drain on the system this has. When our teachers have students work on Flash sites our laptops, even with the extended-life batteries, can’t last a whole school day of classes, something they handle easily if we are only working in Word, for instance.

    I have taught some Photoshop and Flash classes. Flash is intriguing technology with a nice interface for users once they understand the timeline. I can have students creating nice effective simple animations in their first class period which is very encouraging for them. While for students this is fun, I have only seen a handful of kids delve into this program more once we go on to Dreamweaver and Photoshop.

    Flash is very good for banner ads and things that want to draw the visitors’ attention away from the content of the page. I know online newspapers get more for animated ads. Some news sites are simply hard to view because of all the action going on at the periphery.

    Sadly, I think too that Flash has taken away some appreciation for good ad designs. An ad that moves is often considered superior than a well designed static ad, even if the Flash ad is designed poorly. People are willing to pay more for boilerplate Flash ads than very well designed static ads.

    I took a poll recently among my students and found out that they by and large ignore moving ads on many sites, they see no novelty in them. Many find them quite annoying, in fact.

    So, a more fundamental question may be, “Is animation on the web still as effective as it was 5 years ago?”

    For things like slide shows Flash may still have a place, but certainly there are now other methods for achieving a slide show and with a growing audience of iPad, iPod and iPhone browsers, I am certainly exploring alternatives.

  • CitizenF

    in production i only use flash when the client calls for it, and for the last 2yrs now 99% of the time when im forced to use flash by the creative brief its for a web banner campaign.

    im not a flash basher at all though. i was very into it a few years ago, and learning actionscript 3 really helped me quickly get up to speed with javascript last year.

  • http://davidpuerto.com David Puerto

    I used to work almost entirely in Flash for 3 years and basically worked myself out of employment. I needed to be working on HTML5 solutions and getting my designs broken out of Photoshop and running. Flash is cool, whatever, but all the points against it are valid and worthy of finding alternatives.

    I think Flash is a good solution for an interactive website and there are ways to talk back and forth to the browser and Flash using externalInterface.call(); and .callback(); functions. I demonstrated this to my last employer and showed how we could make search engine friend sites that executed javascript calls to load content and load and unload movieclips. Regardless if you were using flash you could still view the site and everything and the content overlaid the Flash. Flash video is hot and using after effects you could make some impressive interfaces.

    Flash and Flex are powerful development combinations but I think that there are better alternatives for everything… I mean the web is so much more than a business card or newspaper/magazine article. WE can really combine all of our talents and develop robust applications for anything. In my opinion there’s going to be greater emphasis on the approach and the product and it’s pretty decided that the deliverance going forward will not be Flash…

  • Ian

    I don’t use flash as much as i did in the past put it is still is a great WYSIWYG environment for developing cool things online. Adobe is working on what appears to be a jquery version of flash, that will enable designers to use a WYSIWYG environment for jquery development. So all the flash like things you can do with jquery, you will be able to do it with this new tool

    So maybe in the future when this product actually gets released it will be the new version of flash

  • http://paymentbrowser.com Ariel

    Jquery Rlz!.

  • DucksOnARailing

    I’ve been developing websites since Netscape was the only game in town and even it didn’t support HTML tables. I used Flash extensively back in the old days, when we had to walk barefoot to school — through 4 feet of snow — uphill both ways! (circa 2003 – 2005) I’m constantly amazed at just how quickly this industry evolves.

    Now, thanks to some really brilliant programmers, who have made their code libraries readily available, we can achieve the same sophisticated animation using simple CSS, HTML and Javascript. To be completely honest… I don’t miss working with Flash at all and never enjoyed working with it even when I had to.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      To be completely honest… I don’t miss working with Flash at all…

      Same here :) Although I did enjoy it when I worked with it… it was just so much fun to code something out in Actionscript and then see it come to life with CNTRL + Enter. That said, I don’t miss it nearly as much as I thought I would.

  • http://www.boylecreations.com Aidan Boyle

    I used to use Flash all the time. When I was college and trying to decide on a language to learn, I was really drawn to the idea of only needing to code for one platform. So I decided to learn Actionscript. A while later, though I found myself really disliking programming for a while and decided to put it down for another language and decided to start working with PHP and experimenting with jQuery.

    Turned out I was just way better at PHP and jQuery, and no matter what I wrote, I was able to solve my problems in debugging. This wasn’t always the case with Actionscript and I found myself often confused while looking through the error log.

    With the rise of the Mobile Age, and Apple’s stand against Flash, It really just gave me the push I needed to put it down. I did and have been much happier since. I can still program for Flash, but its not an enjoyable experience for me anymore.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Hi Aidan,

      I actually felt the opposite (for a while at least) – Actionscript is really a beautiful language (the newer versions are much improved)… but I’ve always had a harder time wrapping my head around PHP and jQuery. That said, you make a good point that Apple’s standard against Flash is going to be a major roadblock for designers/developers that focus on Flash and AS as their primary skillset.

      Cheers!

  • http://www.indpndntboy.com Abiodun Ogunibe

    I started my design work with Flash and I used to work with it all the time, but over time and with the popularity of jQuery the need to use flash as greatly reduced. Although I still use it for offline multimedia application and Screensavers, I have stopped using it for my web design projects unless it is absolutely necessary.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Thanks for the comment Abiodun :)

  • http://www.deyons.com Deyon

    I work with flash on every site build and heres why-> “What you build is what you get”
    Now when I say every site I don’t mean I build the sites in Flash. I use it for slides, image galleries, advanced rollovers. Some sites where I have to deal with inventory in the back end I use Flex. I also use jquery for simple rollovers but I dont trust it much as divs and js render or dont render in some browsers. I dont develop for iOS in mind unless the client says so. Flash is part of a toolset(a powerful one).

    Off topic, because of flash I’m not diving into Flex/Flash Builder and doing desktop apps. Flash developers always have pushed Flash into directions no one thought it can go and thats why I have been a long term supporter of Flash technologies, Flash player 10.1 now supports multi-touch, WOW just WOW!

    • deyon

      * because of flash I’m diving into Flex/Flash Builder * typo

  • Paolo

    Once upon a time…flash:the best way to build sites with awesome effects,transictions,fade in,fade out etc etc. The customers asked me:”we want a flash website…flash or nothing!” This because they need just a cool website to show on their customers or competitors. Now,that’s a totally different story… the customers take care the online business, and they often ask me “we need the first page on google search results, we need that our website Display well on mobile devices,we need low cpc on pay x click campaigns”, so even flash is still the best way to make easily some effects, it’s also the best way to “hide” your contents. I’m sorry because actionscript is a cool language but now I don’t use flash anymore

  • http://mavegibson.com Mave

    I have mixed feelings about the whole Flash situation. On the one hand, I am glad to finally see people taking a sensible approach to it (use it only when necessary). On the other hand, I am dismayed to see web professionals dismissing and even turning against such a valuable, ubiquitous pioneer technology. Even an article like this, perhaps without intending to, serves to reinforce the perception that Flash is a has-been technology that should be avoided.

    Back in The Day when everyone was using Flash gratuitously, I used to criticize its misuse and overuse so much that I developed something of a reputation as a Flash hater. In reality, I have a great deal of respect for the technology and the power of what can be done with it in the right hands, and I’m sad to see more people don’t appear to feel that way. I also have a certain sentimentality toward it, because in many ways it was the catalyst that got people thinking “outside the box” when it came to the web.

    Gratuitous use of Flash, and more importantly, poor implementation of it, is a Bad Thing, but it has a lot of value for certain applications, and if the technology dies it will be a sad thing to see. Flash has come too far, and we’ve really come too far in our learning of how to implement it well, for it to be run out of town by an angry, torch-wielding mob. Those who sweepingly dismiss it are doing so out of ignorance/misunderstanding as much as anything else. It’s a tool – a powerful one that is widely supported – and its failure or success as a tool lies in the hands of those using it, not in the tool itself. Hating on it is just a fad that makes no rational sense.

    I’m also extremely turned off by Apple and the role they’ve played in all of this. But that’s another discussion entirely.

    • pixelBender67

      Love it or hate it I think flash and the flash platform is here to stay. Especially with the 3D libraries like Away 3D you can create some amazing user experiences. There is a place and tool for everything , I don’t understand the bad rap Flash has gotten since Apple announced that they would not allow it this reminds me of thew hole Windows vs Mac thing.

      That being said I totally enjoy working with the standards (html, css, js and php ) I also like working with AS3 and mxml, the right tool for the right job.

  • http://www.visual-blade.com Daquan Wright

    I think the future of flash will be for specific applications and goals, JS animations compete heavy with Flash and seems to be winning with JQuery and other big JS frameworks.

  • btibia

    Guys…guys…this kind of dispute is very old :) Flash vs Other :) I’m a Flash developer at my roots but the clients made me learn, use other technologies as well…so you choose the technology for your client depending on his needs and on what the purpose of the site it is. Here is a good example of a flash site http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/usnikefootball/en_US/head2Head that I think it was thought/design to a be a flash based site. And now here is a nice html/css/js site that I like: http://www.morphix.si/#home so really it depends on YOU. I’ll stick with Flash as long as I can…and I’ll sell it as much as I can…but I’ll not use it if the purpose of the project [website] is meant to be made using html/css/js.

  • Jeff

    If you put a gun to my head, I will use flash ONLY if it can’t be done any other way. In the last year the only time I needed to use it was for accessing a user’s webcam.

  • http://iwannabeadesigner.wordpress.com Bruno

    I believe not using Flash is more and more becoming a trend and not a reason. The webdesign world is very trendy and suggestive. It’s just a question of asking yourself what’s he best tool for the job. Version 10 and above of the flash player really saw huge improvals and the OOP really makes a difference.

    HTML and JavaScript cannot compete with Flash when it is applied correctly. Check out group94.

    Why all the fuzz about flash and SEO? Concentrate in great content and great user usability. That makes real rich user experiences.

    Let’s not do something because others are doing so.

    Nice post. Cheers.

  • http://www.artillerymedia.com John

    I use it sometimes for band sites or for a band logo to add extra effects.

    I’ve been trying to use jQuery more to replace effects I used to do in Flash.

    One nice thing about Flash was your Flash website looked the same in every browser without any hacks…wish that could be true when using HTML/CSS… =)

  • Panos

    Let’s face it. HTML5/CSS/JS is the future of web development. Don’t get me wrong, i used to love flash but nowadays the web is all about usability and subtle design and not extreme effects that take to long to load.
    I now use js for my various effects (sliders, slideshows, lightboxes …) and quit using flash about a year or two.
    Of course the things you can do with flash and actionscript you could never do with jquery or some other js tool but we don’t really need that out-of-space websites do we? Well in some cases (movie websites) we might but not so often anymore.

    Flash is still on of the coolest things that can be seen on a screen.
    With that being said I believe that people don’t pay much attention to flash animations and effects anymore. They just want to get in – get out.

  • ivan

    i´ll agree with some of you guys that says that it will depend on the need of the client, you cant have an apple from a lemon tree (got the idea?), so its just a matter of knowing whats the need at that moment. however, we could not avoid the fact of that rapid growth that the standard tools (html, css, php, js) had have the latest years, and that even flash and AS had grow as well, in my humble opinion, not the fast that standards had.

    So, i think, that maybe flash wont stop been used at all, and i pray God that doesn´t happend, but its hard that it takes the place its had couple of years ago.

  • davebp

    Im still new to the web design world, but i love flash. From a visual standpoint i dont think there are better looking sites. Tthe workflow is amazing and gives you the full power of the adobe suite as a whole.

    It seems to me that google and apple are killing flash. Everybody wants SEO and to see their sites on an iphone. I hope this is not the end for flash, maybe just an identity crisis.

    My take is that this is the way things are moving and to use it to your advantage. For the case of SEO maybe design an HTML/CSS page that has a flash banner embedded, for example.

    Maybe HTML5 is the best of both worlds but I still appreciate flash for what it is.

  • gkiller

    Someone approached me awhile ago and stated that Flash is an outdated technology that should not be used on the Web. This comment came from an obvious Apple fan-boy who stated he had never used Flash, but “knows” that there are other tools more powerful out there. Quite a bold statement from someone who hasn’t been in the trenched of web design/development.

    For starters, technology does not equal Apple and Apple does not equal technology – any sensible designer and developer should know this. I still use Flash, but as a tool that supplements other technologies used for the Web. It all comes down to your client/target audience and how streamlined or optimized your site is. My sites and apps typically run XHTML, CSS 2.1, jQuery, JavaScript and Flash. I’ve seen other sites that are beautiful, but suffer in performance or experience delays in effects because so many jQuery scripts are being loaded in the background.

    For me, I think Flash sliders like Cu3er or Piecemaker are fantastic and many of my clients have been in awe by them. It may have too much of a ‘cool’ factor – but it served its purposed and engaged the audience when certain promos or campaigns needed prominence. As an alternative, i had used a jQuery 3D slider and it was much choppier and CPU intensive than it’s Flash counterpart.

    Unfortunately, a lot of this has been driven by Apple and a lot of consumers who fall into the anti-Flash hype. Yes, they claim that it is battery draining – but the iPhone had a so-so battery life to begin with. (Let’s also not forget their design flaw with the poorly place antenna).

    If Flash were really as bad as they claim, then why do they still allow it in their desktops and notebooks? I tend to agree with those who think it’s Apple’s way to control their content distribution.

    And while jQuery is very good – it’s useless when JavaScript is turned off – which people still do btw.

  • http://www.johnfront.com Ivan Tsankov

    First of all, I have to admit that , Yes, I work with Flash all the time!
    Also agree with gkiller. A smart guy.

  • Mohamed Cherif BOUCHELAGHEM

    I use Flash for interactive CD-ROM projects with the help of SWF-STUDIO and clients here in my country (Algeria in North Africa) still ask for flash intros and banners and there is no culture for micro sites so i always recommand to work with web standards cauz i want to avoid flash and i recommand to use mordern browsers when I can for better render.

  • tiagoss

    I work with flash everyday and html5, and flash doesn’t have any limits i know of, and html5 has, even if in some cases html is better to keep a lighter website, if you limit the creativity flash provides, you will only get that far.
    If some apple products (and i’m an apple user with desktop cpu, laptop and ipod) can’t handle flash it’s because they can’t keep up with it.
    Like the iphone, it’s a very good phone but android opens more doors to creativity, because i can create small things in flash and test in my phone right on the spot, and apple has a more “closed” system.
    Resuming, you have a software that can make all sorts of content for the web, but some hardware and software (browsers, phones, etc) cannot get good enough to handle them, in wich side is the problem?
    Some browsers took the step to be better, apple just has to take the next step. Just because it’s pretty doesn’t mean it’s the best product. I don’t use pc regularly since 2004, only in some specific cases where i need to make sure the old IExplorer doesn’t screw up some website i just finished.
    The best option is to use and mix them all and work for all platforms and browsers.
    Take the best out of each software. If you limit your creativity you’re dead in this business.