I realize I’m a little late to post with this one, but my cousin (also a .swf devloper – I am just calling Flash and Flex development .swf development from now on as explaining the NON-differences is time consuming)… So my cousin called me and all his MAC buddies are giving him a hard time about being a .swf developer, since the glorious HTML5 is “on the way” which has built in video playback embedded in the language…etc..
I mean really this is just a rediculous argument.
 .SWF files are cross platform (until recently when Apple decided NOT to allow it onto thier Iphone or other I”stuff”). I would be suprised if Microsoft and Apple made a temporary agreement to put aside thier enemy status and become “friends” for the purpose of putting Adobe out of business… WHY DOESN’t Apple just BUY Adobe and be done with it and crowned victorious??? Or Microsoft just squash MAC a little further (remember the OS law suite from the late 80′s earl 90′s)…
Anyway, .swf files are still able to play on 98% of all computers!
If HTML5 is anything like ALL of it’s predecessors, then there are going to be differences in the browsers in the implementation of the language. THAT MEANS, unless you use a .swf file, you WILL NOT be able to write once and deploy. You will ahve to write as many times as there are browsers and THEN deploy each one and then MAINTAIN each one.
I just don’t get it. I don’t get the argument. .SWF files are just plain and simply easier and more efficient to use than AJAX. AJAX is like a “Jerry Rigged .SWF”…Why “Jerry Rig” it when you can do it right, more effiecient and more easily with .swf ??
Ok, so I have ZERO worries that all my education and experience will be going to waste when (IF) HTML5 goes live in the browsers.
And IF .swf was somehow ever made irrelevant…well don’t sweat it Flex programmers, you will find Java very comforting and not too difficult to transition too.
