MP3 jukeboxes. Talking virtual website assistants. The website for the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Educational online games. Homestarrunner. What do these things have in common? Flash. No, we’re not talking about the little USB hard drive on your keychain. (That’s flash memory, little “f”). In the context of web technologies, Adobe Flash (formerly by Macromedia) is a software program originally designed for creating vector based animations. The Flash player, touted (by Adobe) as “the world’s most pervasive software platform” is used by 99% of Internet users and allows animations created in the authoring program to play in your browser.

In the days before Flash, in order to create anything for the web that was remotely visually interesting, you had to resort to animated GIFs.

Animated GIF examples courtesy gifs.cc

These short loops were used (and often overused) to bring life to otherwise dry HTML pages. With the advent of Flash, web animation turned a corner, becoming longer, more attractive, more sophisticated and less annoying. If you’re still using animated GIFs for some reason, then you very well may be viewing this from a 28.8 baud modem!

In the pre-broadband days, when people were patient , Flash was prized for its ability to keep file sizes small due to its expert handling of vector graphics. Vectors are usually illustrated drawings made up of lines, curves and other geometrical shapes, whereas bitmap graphics are made up of pixels. Flash supports both types of graphics, however, the speed enhancements only really kick in with vectors. Vector graphics are much smaller than their bitmap counterparts, and as such are specially suited for use on the web.

In addition to animation, Flash is also used to develop rich media applications for the web and beyond. The reach of the technology is very broad, you can integrate 3D graphics as well as other web technologies such as PHP, XML, ColdFusion and more. The result is a very robust infrastructure capable of offering a huge variety of solutions. Flash developers are called upon to create everything from interactive games, kiosks, CD & DVD-ROMS to online video editing applications. There are even Flash websites that allow you to create other Flash websites!

NEXT TIME: Flash video!

Leslye can be found at reflectiondigital.com. And, if you’re in the Baltimore area, check out the Déjà Vu? Revealing Repetition in French Masterpieces exhibit at The Walters Art Museum. In the exhibit hall is an interactive Flash kiosk where users can design their own gallery. The kiosk development was managed by Leslye and programmed by students at the Johns Hopkins University Digital Media Center.