Respite for Adobe

Some respite for Adobe as Apple has agreed to ease certain restrictions on the use of Adobe software. Adobe's strength lies in desktop softwares to develop graphic applications and UI. In the rich-internet application (RIA) arena, it still lags behind. Acquisition of Maromedia and Flash has not translated into leadership position that it may have hoped for, though Flash video streaming did turn out to be a winner. Even that may be lost to HTML5 if Adobe is not careful. Its about time that Adobe digested Flash and gets back to the good performance that is expected out of a company of its calibre, failing which it would be only fair for developers to punish it further.

Flash's Final Gambit: Droid 2

After some serious lack of imaginative development, shoddy product management and heavy criticism, it seems that Adobe has decided to play an all or nothing hand with Droid 2. This article in PC World brings out the point very well. I think it would help Adobe either defend Flash for mobile devices or seriously re-think its development strategy for the same.

Going for the Jugular

Double wham! On one hand Steve Jobs comes out with an open letter explaining why he won't support Flash on Apple devices, on other hand Microsoft announced that IE9 will use only the H.264 standard to play HTML 5 video. Bad news for Flash and will definitely affect its reach and power.

In my opinion, it is time for Microsoft to go for the jugular. It has Silverlite coming up as a credible alternative to both Flash Developer 4 and javaScript for developing RIAs. It has the marketing knowledge, distribution network and the good sense to achieve what Flex could not. In the process, it may end up displacing Flash from RIA arena and making good revenues. My free advice would be better start moving on with Silverlite and focus on the obliteration of Flash!

From Flex 3 to Flash Developer 4: Thumbs Down

Flex 4 has turned out to be Flash Developer 4. It seems that Adobe decided that since Flash was a stronger brand it would be perhaps wiser to merge Flex with Flash. Ultimately it was about developing flash media more effectively, and in that sense the merger does make some sense. Nevertheless, I feel that first Adobe neglected the Flex brand, slept on its laurels, saw Flex usage drop down, did not know how to catch-up and decided to roll it all into with Flash. After all that's all it was, wasn't it? I am not totally convinced.

We have lost Datagrid and some other Flex 3 components and compile times will not improve substantially either. I am also not convinced that Adobe will be able to effectively mix two different paradigms: Rich Internet Application development and animation. The result may be an unappealing mix that puts off both type of users. Not all is bleak though, as we are promised better debugging and backend integration. I don't even feel like evaluating the new offering, but will to see how bad it really is (or, I hope, perhaps be surprised to discover the opposite).

I am increasingly confident that Flex/Flash will further loose the RIA market to JS based competitors. Yet again, I am disappointed by Adobe's development strategy. As much as I liked Flex, I am sorry to say I may not like sticking with it if this trend continues. And for all newbies to RIA, I would warn keep clear of Adobe till these guys mend their ways and approach product development keeping in mind their target market.

A Careful "No" to GWT

Well, GWT is alright. But I am convinced that it may not be the way forward, though many of its ideas and approaches are reasonably good.

The primary problem is that I really don't like compiling my code every time to see the smallest of changes. This is one biggest reason that I would prefer a JavaScript-HTML5 based framework and an IDE that makes it easier to develop thus. Secondly, learning and using GWT can be simpler if you are a good programmer or have worked with Java Swing. Otherwise the learning curve for a web developer can be quite steep. Finally, I am not really convinced by its handling of testing, its ability to make maintenance easier and browser compatibility issues.

All-in-all, it is back to exploring other solutions to developing RIA solutions more effectively. Will keep you posted.

Exploring Google Web Toolkit

With YUI, Flex, TIBCO and Ext; somehow I managed to ignore Google Web Toolkit (GWT). It suddenly struck me that by making JavaScript generation Java based, GWT perhaps addresses two extremely important problems with new-generation UI code: maintainability and debugging. Since there are umpteen Java based IDEs, this should be interesting. I will have to explore it a little to assess how powerful and easy it can be compared to other solutions, but I think it does merit a thorough exploration. More when I am through with it!

New Developments in the Market

Simply could not wait to write about this: Ext is coming out with Ext Designer. This would be the first Javascript-focussed RIA building tool outside of Adobe Spry in Dreamweaver and TIBCO General Interface. And it reaffirms my conviction that an IDE to help developers make RIAs more effectively is desperately needed. This step by Ext is in the right direction. It remains to be seen how far they would be willing to take it. I, for one, would be keenly watching them.

Parallel to this development is Salesforce coming up with Chatter Collaboration Cloud to create create collaborative cloud-computing applications. Salesforce, above all, have a strong expertise in making web-based business applications. Yet their venture from CRM into collaborative development, on the face of it, does seem odd. I have no doubt about their technical prowess and their distribution network, but I am curious to understand how they will leverage their CRM experience and brand image to enter this arena. In fact, I feel their strong association with CRM may inhibit them. I understand that they are now promoting the "Force.com platform" with a strong desire to leverage cloud computing, but the CRM shadow may prove a bit hard to loose. For RIA, this development points out at an interesting alternative to desktop based IDEs. Definitely something to ponder upon. The not-so-new RIA by Autodesk and the current venture by Salesforce clearly demonstrates that it may be both technically feasible and perhaps even desirable. Definitely something to ponder about.

Future of Flex Revisited

I remember expressing my doubts about the Future of Flex and dissatisfaction with Adobe's work in RIA. So you can understand that I was intrigued to learn that Apple has decided to continue to not support Flash. In fact, it is alleged that Steve Jobs called Adobe a lazy company. Expectedly, the web was soon full of discussions and arguments between Flash lovers and Flash haters. Myself, I have used Flex for quite some time and now I am keenly following the HTML5 development. I feel that Flash does have a large reach. Even if one could use HTML5 for video streaming and delivering a variety of RIA applications, I will be keen to see how it manages to handle the challenge of drawing vector graphics and animation. Especially in analytics and similar applications, I don't see anybody replacing Flash based charts any time soon. Even most JavaScript based frameworks tap Flash for graphs and other highly interactive visual elements. Hence, with its reach and graphic potential, Flash remains a force to contend with. And Apple is simple not powerful enough to dislodge it, unless somebody can come up with a better alternative and promote it enough.

However, there is some truth to the charge that Adobe has gone a bit lazy. I, for one, will not question Adobe's technical competence. They are simply brilliant when it comes to desktop based graphics and multimedia development applications. In fact they make great IDEs for the same. But when it comes to the web-based application development, as an end user I am totally unhappy and unsatisfied with the way they have screwed up Flex development. They had a clear head-start but lost ground to JavaScript frameworks. This was, mind you, not due to their laziness but lack of closeness to customer needs. No wonder other technologies are fast elbowing it out. Apple may have gone a bit overboard, but it does point out that Adobe needs to change its approach towards RIA development or ultimately face being evicted out of this arena.