Aral Balkan

There have always been myths and misinformation about Flash. Five years ago, when we were at the height of the age of the Skip Intro, this was perhaps understandable. But it is discouraging to hear the same misinformation being regurgitated over and over even today and it's difficult to find the time to keep writing the same responses to the same tired myths. (For an example, see this uninformed comment on a recent post at WASP, and read my response to it.)

So let's do something about it, shall we?

Here's a simple template:

<strong>Myth:</strong> Text.

<strong>Fact:</strong> Text.

Copy this into the comments and dispel a Flash myth today.

Let's make this post into a comprehensive list of Flash myths and facts that we can simply point people to in the future. Let the myth-bustin' begin! :)

Comments

• Myth: Flash movies can have max 2800x2800px dimensions. Fact: OK, that's true, not a myth, but no one has a screen with 2800px high, so you can use ScrollRect class to create kilometers long content.

  by Ozay on 2007-08-13 16:48:52

• Myth: You can't use the Back button in Flash. Fact: You can use the Back button on a properly constructed Flash site. In fact, Back button (and history) support in Flash and Flex is far superior to the support available in Ajax applications. (There is, for example, a History Manager built into Flex that Flex components are aware of.) The question however, is what does the Back button do in a web *application*. In other words, in a non-hierarchical, non-page-based system. Does it double for Undo? Does it take you to the previous state? The Back button issue does not have a simple black and white answer.

  by Aral on 2007-08-13 11:09:55

• Some additions to flashape's myth to help strengthen his argument: Myth: Flash is responsible for web sites that auto-play music and video, and annoying banner ads that take over a web page. Fact: Websites have been auto-playing music and other media since before Flash Player became ubiquitous. MIDI songs commonly added music to webpages during the 90s and animated GIFs gave us annoying banner ads. In other words, Flash is not responsible for bad design choices because bad design choices.

  by Josh Tynjala on 2007-08-13 23:03:33

• Myth: DRM is the future Fact: Flash's ability to stream video is by far the best web experience for this medium. The fact that DRM'able Flash video is on it's way shouldn't hold back organisations like the BBC from utilising it's quality, cross platform-ness and penetration. iPlayer is a joke and as someone who pays taxes and a TV licence I think it's deplorable that as a Mac user can't access this content, for the sake of some DRM. I'd say it's pretty we DRM'ed when you can't actually get at the content in the first place. *disclaimer* Ok the myth isn't strictly speaking Flash related but the fact is, it's also a bit ranty and contains the work penetration, which I can't help myself from using when describing the Flash Players ubiquity :-)

  by Jolyon on 2007-08-13 13:30:19

• Thanks, Aral. Here's a previous rundown, in slightly different format, as well as category which includes more such items: http://weblogs.macromedia.com/jd/archives/2006/09/top_anti-flash.cfm http://weblogs.macromedia.com/jd/archives/flash_sociology/index.cfm jd/adobe

  by John Dowdell on 2007-08-13 14:12:00

• Myth: You can't be an opensource dude and a flash dude. Fact: Flash is wandering down the path of opensource enlightenment, and you can try and be whoever you want. Good to see you haven't lost you're inspiring touch Aral! :)

  by Pete on 2007-08-13 14:28:22

• Hi Aral et al - interesting thread Here's a blog post covering a comment I received end of last year informing me of the multiple issues Flash apparently has. Feel free to dissect and bring out the myths and misinformation. http://www.isolani.co.uk/blog/access/ContributionOfFlashMythAndMisinformation Thanks, Mike

  by Isofarro on 2007-08-13 15:55:05

• here's the thing...i used to get all up in arms about posts like that. I still get sort of irritated...actually more disappointed that posts like that still occur. Then I realized, I don't really care what they have to say. ALL of my clients are going to use flash no matter what, because it's the best tool for the job, period. I make my living doing absolutley nothing but Flash platform development...what someone who hates flash says makes absolutely no difference to me. Myth: Flash is responsible for web sites that auotplay music and video, and annoying banner ads that take over a web page. Fact: The Flash Player is simply a plugin that displays content within a web page. It's the developers that are choosing to make content that's annoying.

  by flashape on 2007-08-13 16:54:10

• I'll take this one from the original comments ;) "I agree that Flash is a better tool than AJAX for building real web applications, but then these should not need the use of a browser in the first place. eg Google Earth." Myth: Flash requires a browser. Fact: Flash apps have been distributable as standalone applications for as long as I have worked with Flash (not sure when it was implemented), and with the addition of AIR we'll see more and more Flash apps that don't require a browser. In fact you could build a browser!

  by Tink on 2007-08-13 17:09:24

• Myth: Flex requires a special server! Fact: Flex was a server in the 1.* time frame but it no longer needs a server at all. You can deploy any Flex SWF file to any HTTP/s server on the planet with no restrictions, no licencing, free, free, free. The Flex SDK allows anyone to compile Flex SWF files without paying Adobe a dime both on a server, on your desktop, or in a treehouse somewhere (provided you have power). Great thread Aral! Ted :)

  by Ted Patrick on 2007-08-13 19:13:29

• Myth: Flash is for designers. Fact: Flex and its IDE, Flex Builder, were created with developers in mind. MovieClips, symbol libraries, and timelines are nowhere in sight. Flex applications are created with the markup language MXML and ActionScript 3, a strongly-typed and object-oriented language based on an ECMA standard.

  by Josh Tynjala on 2007-08-13 23:08:39

• Myth: If I create my content with Flash, some of my audience won't be able to see it. Fact: Flash embedding libraries like SWFObject allow you to provide alternative content for users who don't have Flash Player, and if they have a lower version than required, you can utilize Flash Player's Express Install to update immediately without leaving your website.

  by Josh Tynjala on 2007-08-13 23:11:22

• I wish I knew how to get my forum to use flash somehow. I would have to study how to make flash sites first. It's a big ask for me.

  by AAA Forums on 2007-08-14 02:13:59

• Myth: Flash is slow. Fact: I often come across with clients that have the impression that using flash will turn their website into a "slow elephant". With today's general access to broadband and the increasing efficiency of data transfer/storage technologies that Flash supports ( AMFPHP, SOAP, Native XML, SWX, etc) that myth is BUSTED! Today's Flash webapps are fast, reliable and user friendly. It all depends on who's writing the code.

  by Diogo Moutinho on 2007-08-14 09:53:54

• Myth: Flash is not indexable by search engines (aka not SEO-friendly) Fact: 1. swf with static data: google is able to index the text inside the swf files… but as many of us do not work with static data: 2. swf with dynamic loaded data: basicly the approach is to have the data in a html page, with a flash overlay -> search engines index the data, users see a full flash site (one solution for this is using flash, sfwaddress, swfobject, drupal… which gives a full flash site, with deeplinking, back-button support, fully indexable… the drupal feature set: content management, user management, blog/forum features… )

  by g10 on 2007-08-14 12:48:23

• Myth: Flash should be avoided when designing a 'Web 2.0' site. Fact: Flash is like any other tool - it should be used when it is the best way to deliver or manage content. For now, Flash is the best way to broadcast audio & video and those are both useful elements in the Web 2.0 world. It's not always about CSS and Ajax.

  by Freddy on 2007-09-02 16:50:18

• @flashape If flash is always the best tool for the job, then why is your blog not all flash?

  by Nate Klaiber on 2007-09-19 20:59:50

• [...] Flash Myths and Misinformation [...]

  by Just Flashing - Today’s Top Blog Posts on Flash - Powered by SocialRank on 2007-10-01 09:02:47

• Re-Myth: Flash is a designer's tool. Fact: Flash was a designer's tool till Adobe decided to change that in Flash CS3 (9) and AS3. Myth: Flash can read rtl (right to left) text. Fact: yes it can if u create a component that reverses letters one by one but there's no word wrapping so you have to do that manually and return to line every time.

  by Ronny Karam on 2007-11-15 16:18:51

• ActionScript3 garbage collection is a myth. Loading and unloading same swf by another swf means only unlimited increase in memory usage. Loader.unload() just makes loaded content unavaliable for use, but it still keeps memory.

  by Swav Kulinski on 2008-05-20 14:55:46

• Hi I am a newbee to Flash and Flex. I have a simple question: can we bookmark web pages made in Flash? I mean since applications built in Flash are non-hierarchical and it is mostly a non-page-based system how can I give a 'bookmark' facility to users? Is it a limitation?

  by Abhishek on 2008-03-07 08:23:16

• @Abhishek = try SWF Address. It is a neat hack that modifies the page URL in the browser as you navigate around pages within flash. That way the position in the flash can be bookmarked.

  by David Arno on 2008-03-07 09:18:09

• Myth: Flash can't read RTL (right-to-left) text. Fact: Check out Flash 10.

  by Sam Swenson on 2008-03-08 18:37:14

• Nice Info Thanks

  by شات on 2008-06-13 03:36:13

• Myth: The words "Flash", "Splash Page" and "Effective" can be used in the same sentence.

  by Buy Eve Isk on 2008-03-31 20:39:19

• I have been contemplating building more Flash websites as I am a web designer and have been relying upon more html dhtml xhtml css php sites and want to switch things but always had these bad misconceptions about Flash. Thank you for dispelling many of the Flash myths that I believed to be true. This blog post was a real help to me and my business.

  by david swenson on 2009-03-25 17:51:06