Should I give up flash?

[bgstcola]

At the moment I'm creating small educational games in flash (I'm a teacher). I really like how Flash Pro allows me to draw objects on the stage and then control them with AS3.

Now I'm a bit worried about the future of flash and I'm thinking about jumping the ship... Not because I need mobile support but more because I'm afraid that the death of mobile will have a lot of negative impact on non-mobile flash as well.

Right now I'm thinking that it is better to stay with Flash until the alternatives are better. It seems like there really isn't any alternatives that allows me to create games like I do in Flash Pro.

Any advice?

 

[GregGreen]

For what you are doing, there is no reason to even think about ditching Flash. Computers aren't suddenly going to not have the Flash plugin. You can even start putting out apps using AIR if you suddenly had access to a bunch of iPads.

If your career was only building Flash apps, you might consider learning some other languages but that isn't your career.

Hope this helps

 

[Net]

don't worry, its not going anywhere for a while. what you can do is learn html5 on the side and slowly move over to building the new games with that.

then people can play your games on the iphone too.

 

[dwell]

If you're doing educational Flash for students you're ok. If you're a professional Flash developer it's time to bail.

I work on one of the most popular all-Flash sites int the US. We've had every major Flash dev work for us at some point. This February it seems the market bottomed out and every Flash developer I've ever met is asking if we have any work because there's nothing out there. Bad news I have to tell them is we're converting to HTML(5)

 

[Aluvus]

Now I'm a bit worried about the future of flash and I'm thinking about jumping the ship... Not because I need mobile support but more because I'm afraid that the death of mobile will have a lot of negative impact on non-mobile flash as well.

It will. Windows 8 in its Metro mode will not allow Internet Explorer to load any plug-ins, to include Flash. So desktop Windows 8 users living in Metro (which appears to be what Microsoft is pushing) will have to switch UIs to use any Flash content. The writing is on the wall; Flash is gradually on its way out.

Right now I'm thinking that it is better to stay with Flash until the alternatives are better. It seems like there really isn't any alternatives that allows me to create games like I do in Flash Pro.

Yes, unfortunately the authoring tools for building things in "HTML5" are not really there yet (heck, the standards involved aren't really there yet). If I were you, I would probably wait until there are some good tools.

 

[bgstcola]

Thanks, but what about the skills I get from working with flash. Will I be able to take advantage of that when I convert to HTML5 some time in the future? Right now I'm still learning AS3, so would you still say it is true that it would be better to stay with flash? Or is the time I spend learning AS3 a waste? I want to go the route that is most efficient in the long run. If I switch early I have to deal with underdeveloped tools, and if I wait I'll waste time learning the wrong language:S

 

[GregGreen]

Thanks, but what about the skills I get from working with flash. Will I be able to take advantage of that when I convert to HTML5 some time in the future? Right now I'm still learning AS3, so would you still say it is true that it would be better to stay with flash? Or is the time I spend learning AS3 a waste? I want to go the route that is most efficient in the long run. If I switch early I have to deal with underdeveloped tools, and if I wait I'll waste time learning the wrong language:S

Learning a language is never a bad idea. If you are learning good OOP principles while you are learning AS3, then those should easily carry over to other languages (JavaScript is quite a bit different but it's also eerily similar -- I don't think there would be too much of a jump). If you're just hacking around while not learning good fundamentals, then I'd recommend learning some fundamentals and keep going with the AS3.

That's the plan of action I'd recommend. I don't think the "tools" are out there yet for "HTML5" (really the canvas tag and javascript for what you would be doing) and I worry that you might grow frustrated quickly. Keep on learning both the language and the fundamentals at some point, you'll feel comfortable enough to start embarking on another path.

 

[bgstcola]

Thanks, I will stick with flash then

 

[DaveSimmons]

You have years left, and Adobe is working on various Flash-to-HTML5 conversion projects.

In ten years you may still be using the Flash development environment and AS3 language, with the Publish step now creating a bunch of HTML and JavaScript instead of a SWF.