Some of the largest computer-related corporations and organizations are engaged in a struggle of unprecedented proportions over the future of computing. Despite their differences, all participants in the struggle agree on one thing: the future centers on software that runs on the Web. One crucial part of the struggle is for control of the client on which applications are accessed and used, i.e., the Web browser. Until recently Microsoft appeared to have achieved monopoly control of the client by
But just at the moment that Microsoft appeared triumphant, a new and much more formidable competitor appeared: Flash 5 with the ActionScript programming language. Flash completely outclasses DHTML, Java and other proposals for creating executable (as opposed to merely viewable) content on Web pages. In addition to their superior performance, Flash applications are truly platform independent. By providing built in support for sophisticated, multi-threaded animation, Flash also enhances programmer productivity. And Flash (in some version) already exists on more than 98% percent of the browsers in use. The version of Flash just released adds crucial new functionality, including program-controlled vector graphics and GUI controls. As a consequence it now appears that Flash is poised to achieve near monopoly control over executable content on Web clients and will do so over the next few years.
I will talk about Flash and demo a number of its features in L3D.