Ben Forta | Blog

Blog posts made in September 2010

ColdFusion 9 exposes core features as services that may be consumed by other languages, servers, and clients. (I explained this ColdFusion as a Service feature in a post last year). This includes Flash applications, as ColdFusion engineering team member Rakshith Naresh explains in a new ADC article which walks through using ColdFusion PDF manipulation from within an AIR application.

RIM has just announced the company's first tablet. The PlayBook runs BlackBerry Tablet OS, and also supports full Flash 10.1 for uncompromised web browsing. And Adobe Labs has just posted a Flash Platform Development for BlackBerry Tablet OS page to help you prep for this new device and platform.

I'm hosting a game-show we're calling "Are You Smarter Than An Evangelist?" at MAX this year. And I need your help with this one.

The folks over at Appcelerator have posted an interesting summary of a survey of their developers regarding mobile OS priorities. What makes it interesting is that Appcelerator facilitates development on desktop OSs as well as iOS and Android, so (you'd assume that) they'd not be overly biased towards or against any particular OS.

I am not a big fan of comparing technologies using simple performance tests. These tend to never convince the naysayers, they make fans sound rabid at times, and the tests themselves are always called into question. So, I held my applause when reading recent articles comparing Flash and HTML5 (this Fortune post and this post by Chris Black).

However, I still think articles like these are sometimes informative, for two reasons. 1: The comments validate that these debates tend to be far too emotional and seldom based on real facts, 2: They validate that there is room for both, and neither Flash not HTML5 will (or even should) kill each other. Or as Chris sums it up, "HTML5 will sit side by side with Flash. Gradient fonts, drop shadows, basic video and simple transitions are probably better suited for HTML5. When it comes to rendering display objects, animation and digital rights management for video, it would be silly not to use Flash".

You are free to agree or disagree with Chris and his assertions, and I expect that we'll be talking about when to use HTML5 and when to use Flash (and when to use both) for some time to come. It's not black and white, and it is most definitely a work in progress.

But I do agree with the sentiment that the "either or" propositions that have been tossed around the past few months are petty pedantic hysteria inducing juvenile fanboism, and not an accurate reflection of reality. It's a big pond out there, and there's room for lots of fish, especially fish that innovate. Flash's job has always been do to things that HTML does not, and as HTML has evolved, so has Flash. As HTML becomes more capable, then yes, there will definitely be apps and operations for which it is better suited. In which case, use HTML (and we'll be happy to sell you tools to make using HTML easier and more efficient). And when you run into limitations and need Flash, or when you just need the consistency of experience that Flash can provide, well, then use Flash, which is also continuing to evolve.

It's called choice, and that's a good thing.

You visit RIAForge regularly, right? Good! Well, now you have 1,000 reasons to visit. Yep, yesterday Ray Camden announced that RIAForge is now hosting 1,000 projects (over 80% of them ColdFusion related)! Awesome!

As per Wikipedia, WebSocket is a technology providing for bi-directional, full-duplex communications channels, over a single Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) socket, designed to be implemented in web browsers and web servers but can be utilized by any client or server application. Nathan Mische has announced a new version of his ColdFusion WebSocket Gateway, which, as its name suggests, allows for WebSocket messaging between ColdFusion and conforming clients.

MAX 2010 early bird registration closed last week. But, group discounts are still available for three or more attendees from the same company. And as they did last year, the MAX team has graciously allowed me to create a group of my own, a "Friends of Ben" group, which can qualify for the group rate. I have a finite number of discount codes. If you need one, do not reply here, please email me directly. And as quantity is limited, please only ask for one if you are really going to use it, and plan to use it quickly. Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you all in Los Angeles next month!

And before I wrap, here is a quick note from the MAX team: A discount based on a promotion code may be applied against new registrations only and may be applied against the regular price of a full conference pass only (US$1,495); it cannot be applied to other passes, including but not limited to the following "bundle" passes: Russell Brown@MAX; LiveCycle@MAX; and CS5@MAX. A discount based on a promotion code cannot be combined with any other discount offer, including but not limited to the standard Early Bird discount offer to regular attendees and special government, education, and nonprofit employee discounts. A discount based on a promotion code is not transferable and is void where prohibited.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a slick 7" Android 2.2 tablet that comes with Flash Player 10.1 I got to play with one this week, and here's an introductory video I recorded for Adobe TV.

Last year's RIA Unleashed was a big success, and so the team is doing it again. RIA Unleashed Boston 2010 runs November 11-12, and already boasts an impressive speaker and session lineup. And, as an added bonus, RIA Unleashed and 360|Flex have paired up to give you a price break if you attend both events.