18th
The Case Against Adobe Flex / Flash
I’m currently in the process of preparing a document that describes FLEX’s shortcomings. Below is my current list, please challenge the list or submit shortcomings in the comment section.
SEO - All things being equal, a fully Flash based site will never outrank a HTML/AJAX based site in the SERPs. The only way to guarantee your Flash site is being indexed by the search engines is to build an html equivalent site, implement a Flash SEO plugin/hack, and then build a FLEX/HTML hybrid site which uses HTML for the navigation bar.
Performance - Flash is essentially a browser within a browser where an HTML/AJAX solution is not. This makes flash require greater system resources.
Usability - The issues continue to stack up, flash usability issues begin with the back button, move on to the loading sequence and the list keeps going. You’ll end up spending the majority of your development time fixing Flash’s usability issues.
Mobile - A Flex/Flash site won’t work on iPhone.
Macs - Adobe has never put enough effort into making Flex/Flash work well on Macs. Scroll bars for example on the Mac don’t work naturally by moving in sync with the mouse wheel.
Community - The online development community surrounding HTML/AJAX is one of the largest which provides a wealth of resources including free code libraries like YUI or jQuery. Additionally, there are far more HTML/AJAX resources in the market which make maintaining existing code and hiring new talent more cost effective.
The Future of Adobe’s FLASH & FLEX: Companies like Google & Apple are betting against Adobe’s Flash technology and moving in the direction of HTML 5. Why spend precious development time mastering a dying language? Why bet against Google?
What else am I missing? Do you agree or disagree with the points above?
