Why use Flash applets instead of Java applets?

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Java applets have been the dominating force on the web designer community for a long time. However, now we can see that this is changing. Most of the functions that Java had can now be replaced with Dynamic HTML and Flash. These technologies are inferior to Java, you can't make the fantastic effects that you can make in Java with DHTML and Flash, but Flash is more compatible with all operating systems and dominates most web markets, especially the ad market.

It has been a permanent scourge to Java, that it hasn't been fully compatible with all systems, thus alienating the web designer community. This is not only because of Sun Microsystem's neglect of Java applets and blind focus on server-side Java, but also on the famous Java feud between Sun and Microsoft.

Some pros and cons of using Flash Applets...

The pros of using Flash applets include:

• You can be sure of total compatibility with Windows, Macintosh and Unix browsers. This is not always true for Java. Bugs have been appearing on every platform with Java applets.
• It starts much faster than Java (in Internet Explorer, the flash effect is the first thing you see on the web page, during the initialization phase). On Netscape, Java applets could take a very long time to initialize, depending on how they are programmed.
• Adobe has made a serious effort to support their users and to spread the Flash plugin. Sun Microsystems tends to neglect Java applet users and has not made any serious effort to make Java fully compatible. That is, until now that Java applets have been included in their crusade against Microsoft.
• Microsoft has a more friendly orientation towards Flash. The Flash plugin is even be distributed with Windows XP. Microsoft is trying to isolate Java with different actions, such as not including their own Java Virtual Machine in Windows XP, a very serious blow to the Java applet developer community.

The cons of using Flash applets include:

• It will take a long time before Flash will be as powerful as Java applets. You can make virtually any kind of effect with Java applets, since the image processing capabilities are so immense. You have very limited image processing power in Flash, although this is changing with more recent releases of Flash.
• It is difficult to load images, sounds and text on the fly, without recompiling the entire Flash file. This means that you have to generate the Flash effect with Macromedia Flash, or use a customization service such as Advanced Effect Maker.
• Not all users have the Flash plugin. However, this is changing rapidly, according to Mediametrix, 98.3% of all Internet users have the Flash plugin installed in their system. This is even higher than Java availability.