 |
Why use Flash applets instead of Java applets?
Java applets have been the dominating force on the web designer
community for a long time. However, now we can see that this
is changing. Most of the functions that Java had can now be
replaced with Dynamic HTML and Flash. These technologies are
inferior to Java, you can't make the fantastic effects that
you can make in Java with DHTML and Flash. Look for example
at some of Anfy Team's own
effects. However, thanks to Macromedia, Flash is more
compatible with all operating systems. DHTML is supported
in Internet Explorer, which roughly dominates the web market.
Also, these are technologies that are easier to create than
Java. We have seen, for instance, that Flash is dominating
the ad market.
It has been a permanent scourge to Java, that it hasn't been
fully compatible with all systems, and thus alienating the
web designer community. This is not only because of Sun Microsystem's
neglection of Java applets and blind focus on server-side
Java, but also on the famous Java feud between Sun and Microsoft.
The pros and cons of using Flash Applets
The pros of using Flash applets are
- You can be sure of total compatibility with Windows, Macintosh
and Unix browsers. This is not always true for Java. Bugs
have been scourging on every platform.
- It starts much faster than Java (in Internet Explorer,
the flash effect is the first thing you see on the web page,
during the initialization phase). On Netscape, Java applets
could take a very long time to initialize, depending on
how they are programmed.
- The company behind Flash, Macromedia, has made a serious
effort to support their users and to spread around the Flash
plugin. Sun Microsystems, neglects the Java applet users
and has not made any serious effort to make Java fully compatible.
That is, until now that Java applets have been included
in their crusade against Microsoft.
- Microsoft has a more friendly orientation towards Flash.
The Flash 5.0 plugin will even be distributed with Windows
XP. Microsoft is trying to isolate Java by different actions,
such as not including their own Java Virtual Machine in
Windows XP, a very serious blow to the Java applet developer
community.
The cons of using Flash applets are :
- It will take a long time before Flash will be able to
be as powerful as Java applets. You can make virtually any
kind of effect with Java applets, since the image processing
capabilities are so immense. You have very limited image
processing power in Flash.
- It is also impossible to load images, sounds and texts
on the fly, without remaking the whole Flash file. This
means that you have to generate the Flash effect with Macromedia
Flash, or to use a customization service such as Advanced
Effect Maker.
- Although Flash has total compability, not all users have
the Flash plugin. However, this is changing rapidly, according
to Mediametrix, 98.3% of all Internet users have the Flash
plugin installed in their system. This is even higher than
Java availability.
Anibal Wainstein
|
|
