Thoughts on HTML 5, Adobe Flash, Silverlight

I have heard a lot lately that HTML 5 is the way to go for rich web application development. There certainly is some appeal to this thought. After all, as a web developer, it would be great to use one technology for the entire application experience.  It means, one toolset from front to back and the promise of greater portability across a wide variety of devices.

However, I am skeptical. I've dealt with browser compatibility issues and it is incredibly frustrating. More and more browsers are popping up these days, not less.  That means more and more testing and more uncertainty.  The good thing about Adobe Flash is that it remains consistent across browsers and devices.  Yes, it is a plugin, but Adobe is dealing with the browser interaction and we can focus on making our application work within a consistent runtime environment. The same can be said of Silverlight, but it just isn't as widely accepted and we don't really know if Microsoft is committed to it long term.

So what about Apple and its purposeful attack on Adobe? Reminds me of Microsoft and how it would sabotage other browsers on Windows. Apple is forbidding Adobe on its iPad, and it is not allowing Flash to take advantage of the GPU on Macs. I used to like Apple, and I still like their products, but these shenanigans do not entice me to become a developer for their platform.

Another part of the whole equation are your creative artists. They live in Adobe products. It makes a lot of sense to leverage their skills and tools that already are second nature to them.

So what are my next steps?  I'll certainly learn and take advantage of more HTML 5 features, but I welcome the chance to incorporate Flash into my web applications.  I may even pop in a little Silverlight as well. For you iPad users, I'll have a nice little message to display.  "You should have bought a tablet that supports the web and not just the web Apple wants you to see."

BlackBerry PlayBook is almost here

We're about a month away from the release of the PlayBook.  Thanks to a marvelous offer from BlackBerry to its developers, I have a chance to get one for free.  My application is submitted and waiting for approval -- fingers are crossed.

As far as the development experience goes, it was a very interesting learning experience.  I had never programmed for the Adobe platform before, and the QNX API also presents another new wrinkle to learn.  I had always wanted to learn Action Script programming, so I achieved that goal and hopefully get some real reward out of it as well.

Another first was registering as a BlackBerry vendor and going through the application process for my first published mobile application.  Waiving the registration fee for the first year was a brilliant move since I would not have even attempted this if I had to pay $200 up front. While my first application is purely functional and not all that visually stunning, the focus of my next application (assuming I can get a device) will be more fun and also hopefully earn enough to offset the annual fee and development tool cost.

Now, I just need to wait for the "Congratulations!" email.