The Benefits of Flash
We often hear Flash mentioned quite commonly in the Internet and web design sphere, so what are its benefits?
Cost
Flash is essentially free, there are some very minuscule costs to worry about, such as a small cost for Flash IDE, though it nearly costs nothing to distribute. It also comes complete with license for royalties and any decoders used, which lessens the cost.
Attractive
Flash can be used to make a website look aesthetically attractive, as well as making it appear more interactive and dynamic. This allows the website to show whole pieces of information in an engaging manner, over a short period of time.
Downloads
Flash files are generally very small and so can be stored in very small sizes and so are great for downloading and especially useful for browsers with slow Internet speeds.
Macromedia
As all Flash is displayed on Macromedia Plug-ins, Flash will be rendered in a similar manner on all browsers and platforms. This allows those who design to be less limited than they would be with XHTML interfaces.
Community
As Flash is so popular, there are thousands of websites and tutorials to support its use. This means there are lots of add-ons, pieces of advice and tips to make the most of Flash. There’re also a large number of developers and artists working with Flash. This is also a specialty of ours!
Copy and Paste
Flash allows you to copy and paste things, so they can be tested out. You can also use drag and drop techniques from one Flash to another. This will move dependent objects from the library of one Flash to another. This means it is very simple to change things around quickly and try things outside of the main game. It should be remembered that in such a scenario, a debugger may come in useful.
Games
Flash allows for easy conversion from a full game to a web version of the game. This is also great, as it works the other way, and you can turn a web version into a game which can be downloaded.
Flash is also brilliantly suited for making games, and an entire game can be prototyped within a short space of time. It also works really well on all formats, as well as through the web and is royalty free.
The hierarchical visual object model in Flash makes it great for fast creation of prototypes. The well laid-out toolbar based on the proximity of the mouse aids development.
All complex results can be created with only the smallest amount of visual programming, making Flash very easy to use.
In conclusion, Flash is a very useful tool and one that is relatively simple to use. The complexities of Flash are minuscule and the benefits large for those wishing to use this program.
Here at Code23 we specialise in bespoke, rich media Flash Web Design and Development. We can design highly creative web sites and multimedia using Adobe Flash, the professional standard for web and multimedia animation. We can produce everything from an attractive banner slideshow which tells the story of your business to a complete interactive web site using Flash.
