Datasheet

Part I: Rich Internet Applications and the Flash Platform
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In order to simplify the development of pages, advanced developers created Ajax libraries: code bases
that enabled designers without a deep understanding of JavaScript to develop pages that used the
technology. In time, libraries began to develop that had nothing to do with XML or even with retriev-
ing data from the server, but instead merely relied on JavaScript, standards-based HTML, and CSS to
dynamically redraw pages. Thus Ajax became the logical (and much more successful) successor to
DHTML. Eventually, its name would be changed to reflect this reality.
Today the term Ajax is not an acronym for anything. Instead it is simply the name for this idea of
using XHTML, CSS, JavaScript and XML to create interactive Web pages and for creating Rich
Internet Applications.
Understanding the Flash Platform
In 1995, a small company developed FutureSplash, a set of tools that allowed designers to create
vector-based animations. Shortly thereafter, Macromedia — at the time itself a fairly small, San
Francisco-based software company — bought FutureSplash. Macromedia quickly changed the
name of the animation tool to Flash, and began development of two separate but closely linked
applications: Flash Player, a free browser plug-in to play Flash movies; and an authoring tool,
known then simply as Flash, for creating those movies. In 2006, Adobe Systems purchased
Macromedia bringing Flash under its umbrella.
Flash platform overview
What began as a simple animation tool has now grown into a complete platform of tools for creat-
ing animation, embedding video, and developing complete Rich Internet Applications for the
browser and the desktop alike.
Flash Player
At the heart of the Flash platform is Flash Player. Still free, it remains the most-installed piece of
software on Earth. As of June 2009, Flash Player is installed on more than 99 percent of all
Internet-connected computers and it has started to expand into other devices as well. Adobe plans
to offer support for Flash Player on smart phones by 2010 and is working on bringing it to televi-
sions and any other device that can display Flash Player’s content. Already, some digital cameras
use Flash Player for their menu interface.
Flash Player relies on the ActionScript Virtual Machine. This technology allows Flash Player to
deliver its content in exactly the same way across all browsers and operating systems. Those creat-
ing content for Flash Player never have to worry about browser and operating system incompatibil-
ities: If a version of Flash Player exists for a platform, your content will run on it, and it will look
and behave exactly the same as whichever platform you used when you created it.
Flash Player’s release cycle is tied to that of Flash Professional. Thus, Flash Player 10 was released
in October 2008, alongside Flash Professional CS4; Flash Player 11 is scheduled to be released in
the spring of 2010 with Flash Professional CS5.
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