77 comments

1. 

   Ashley Sheridan

   September 27, 2011

   The HTML5/CSS3/Javascript stack is never going to replace Flash, and anyone who is saying it will/can is clearly stuck in a bit of a dream world or really doesn’t understand the technologies involved.

   That said, it can make a good alternative to Flash in some cases, and can be used to gracefully enhance without causing too many issues. You don’t need to worry about Flash blockers, search engines can see your content (good luck with that in Flash unless you’re prepared to put in a stupid amount of work) and it can be made accessible very easily (a lot of people with a disability find Flash sites a pain and often impossible to navigate)

   The other aspect of it is the open nature of the HTML5 stack, as opposed to the very closed Flash. The only barrier to entry with HTML5 is in learning to code (which is slightly alleviated with Adobe Edge), and you don’t have to pay for specialist software (a text editor will do)

   Reply
   • 

     Roy M J

     January 21, 2012

     “The HTML5/CSS3/Javascript stack is never going to replace Flash, and anyone who is saying it will/can is clearly stuck in a bit of a dream world or really doesn’t understand the technologies involved.”-

     Its nearly 4 months after you have first posted this as reply.. You still believe html5 hasnt killed flash??

     Check these articles and you’ll know for sure..

     http://www.zdnet.com/blog/networking/flash-is-dead-long-live-html5/1633
     http://forwardthinking.pcmag.com/none/290436-why-adobe-is-deflating-flash-html5

     There are so much features and articles to underline the fact that flash is dead or that process of replacing flash with html5 is currently undergoing..

     Cheers..

     Reply
     • 

       Lawrence

       June 21, 2012

       Hiya,

       Flash can’t be replaced by HTML5. The only thing HTML5 will replace is all the websites who used Flash incorrectly as well as the websites that could only use Flash in order to embed video.

       There is nothing wrong with Flash; only the idiots that make buggy ActionScript or ugly animations and give Flash a bad name.

       HTML5 will not replace a cross-platform runtime environment because it isn’t a runtime environment; it’s a way of describing data to be interpreted by web browsers. I hate to say it but, Roy, you need to understand in greater depth the role of Flash and the underpinnings of both.

       Lawrence

       Reply
       • 

         Moi

         August 4, 2012

         About as much as Python/PHP were replaced by Perl…

         Reply
2. 

   Sean Voss

   September 29, 2011

   Wow… it’s amazing to see how fluid these render though, usually in the past HTML5/Canvas demos ran at a framerate that looked terrible while the FlashVM once loaded would be nice n smooth. These demos are crisp and clean.

   Reply
3. 

   Thomas

   October 17, 2011

   I suggest you got o http://www.away3d.com/showcase/ and look at the showcases there for Away3D todays leading 3D engine for Flash developers. Some demos are for Flashplayer 11 (The Molehill Project) and some are not.

   So what Sean says: clearly you have no grasp of Flash if you think it would somehow “replace it”. Companies build full scale advanced 3D games in Flash already and there is around 40 API’s for Flash, there is a ton of coding frameworks all relying on established standards wether Pure MVC, Parsley or Robotlegs.

   Clearly, HTML 5 is not at all about that, and to imply so means you are mixing up two totally different forms of languages. One still being a tag language however dynamic. Usually the end result is that people start comparing rendering speeds. Which doesnt really say anything as that is like comparing an ant to a bazooka.

   As for rendering I suggest you check the Blitmask project on http://www.greensock.com. Makes HTML5 look like a turtle.

   Theres no interest in the question technology vs technology as it’s artificial. You are not comparing two rivals. HTML5 is great in its own and not meant as an adversary to Flash. There’s no logical base for such a comparison as it just raises artificial emo like views.

   Its like comparing eating elephant to haddock and someone goes huh what ?

   Reply
4. 

   Martin

   October 18, 2011

   Flash vs HTML5 is an issue. Many things that CANNOT be made with HTML4 and therefore required Flash, can be made with HTML5-SVG-CSS3-Javascript. And will be.

   Performance is not the most important thing:
   If you have the choice between requireing your users to have an up-to-date version of a proprietary plugin that lacks support for some major platforms and using out-of-the-box open-source browsers across a variety of platforms for the same task… the decision is pretty clear, no?

   Flash has it’s niche, that HTML5[...] will not enter, and that is games etc, but HTML5 will definitly occupy sectors where Flash had been dominant.

   Reply
5. 

   Gordy

   October 24, 2011

   Here’s a really cool gallery:
   http://www.hippostudios.co.uk/?S=Animator&P=AnimatorGallery

   Reply
6. 

   Pablo Neirotti

   December 5, 2011

   I made a multimedia player on HTML 5. Still in the dark, but quite functional already. I would like to hear (read) some feedback if possible =)

   Senses: http://senses.artpulse.me/

   More info: http://artpulse.me/articles/Senses/

   Reply
7. 

   Robert

   May 10, 2012

   Lol I guess a lot of flash programmers are still in denial.
   Adobe already stopped developing flash for mobile platforms.
   Apple Ios doesn’t support flash.
   When you check out the statistics on the W3C schools website you’ll find the usage of mobile platforms (esp Ios) is rising fast.
   In short, the question shouldnt be if HTML5 will replace flash/actionscript, the question is when will it.

   I remember when C was first introduced, I can still hear Pascal programmers scream it will never replace pascal, guess what… it did.

   R.I.P. Flash

   Reply
8. 

   fahad

   May 20, 2012

   Nice work. Why dont you write on how to create html5 designs?

   Reply