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Is this Flash a Little Brighter?
Jeremy Allaire, one of the first development gurus to emerge during technology's big shift to Web-based computing, tries to answer the question that many traditional application developers have been asking about the new, improved Macromedia MX product line: What's in it for me?
by Jeremy Allaire, Chief Technology Officer, Macromedia
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| Editor's Note |
| Since Macromedia MX—and in particular, Flash MX—was released, we've spent a good bit of time reading about and trying out its new features and functionality. That experimentation left us with one fundamental question: has Flash really turned the corner on its history to become a full-fledged development environment that a new arena of programmers can embrace? Because he is a longtime Web developer with demonstrated insight into the needs of both developers and end users, we invited Macromedia Chief Technology Officer Jeremy Allaire to write a technical commentary that answers that question and a few others. |
 or many developers, the thought of Macromedia Flash invokes visions of swirling graphics, thumping (and bandwidth-gobbling) techno beats, and intro screens for Web sites that most of us would rather just skip.
Internet application developers want the real deal. They want Java and C#. They want compilers and debuggers, and access to code for building real applications, not playful content.
As you may know, Macromedia recently released the MX product line with the goal of providing developers with an integrated client, server, and tools to develop rich Internet applications—applications that deliver more effective user experiences, at a lower cost, in the context of the infrastructure already in place.
The editors of DevX invited me to take a developer's-eye view of the Macromedia MX product line, walking through some of the major technical features that I believe make it a really compelling development environment—for any developer and not just for those who want to do intense motion graphics.
While there are many big changes in the product line that I could address, I'm going to limit my comments here to the two technologies that have significantly changed the face of Flash and made it a serious environment for serving applications that interact with server logic and instructions: Flash Remoting and ColdFusion Components.
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TALK
BACK
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Is Jeremy's notion of "rich" Internet applications a peek into the future or just a technique he's using to legitimize a larger importance for Flash? As a Web developer, have you taken a renewed interest in Flash since the MX release or is it still just a plaything for high-tech animators? Tell us in the talk.editors.devx discussion group.
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Introduction 
Integrating Flash with the ColdFusion Server
Client/Server Communications
Moving Away from the Document-based Web
