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MillimeterDistribute Expertise: Flash vs. Silverlight
Jun 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Jan Ozer
Which platform will suit your web-development needs?
Table 2. Comparing Flash and Silverlight as development environments.
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Development environments
With this as background, let's discuss some of the differences and similarities between the two technologies as described in Table 2. First, neither approach requires a special server; both should work with your existing web server, which is probably already obvious to most readers.
Adobe's chief design program, Flash, is available on both the Windows and Mac platforms, while Expression Studio is available only on Windows. This fact alone will be sufficient for many readers to mutter, “Microsoft still doesn't get it.” It's hard to disagree. That said, Microsoft packs a lot of functionality into Expression Studio — including Expression Web, a website-authoring program that replaces FrontPage and Design for image editing and creating vector graphics; Blend, for creating graphical interfaces for web and desktop applications; and Media, a digital asset-management program.
In terms of complementary design tools, Adobe has all the programs in Creative Suite 3, while Microsoft has nada. Because the vast majority of those developing content for the Web use Photoshop and Illustrator, the ability to import these formats into Flash — while preserving layers and other native characteristics — is a real strength that Adobe will work to enhance in future versions.
Finally, as you can see in the Table 2, you can create Silverlight applications in more programming languages than you can with Flash, which is limited to ActionScript 3 and Ajax. Undeniably, VB, C#, and .NET are all very popular languages with lots of experienced programmers. However, very few of these programmers have ever done web-design work, while all ActionScript 3 programmers have been almost exclusively involved with web design.
Snarr reports that when Struck Creative hires a web designer, the company is really seeking a “part designer, part programmer; and that candidates who fit that profile have all been using Flash.” He also reported that in a recent project, his firm had to produce some .NET functionality. The company searched extensively for a programmer who knew .NET and rich-media web design, but ultimately they couldn't find any qualified candidates so an internal staffer had to learn .NET to complete the work.
Turning that around, however, if you have lots of experienced developers who know the .NET framework or languages such as Visual Basic or C#, Silverlight is a great vehicle for expanding their skills into rich Internet applications. This is especially true if you're porting an existing desktop application written in one of those languages to the Web.
For example, Stanfield reports that when Vertigo received access to Silverlight's Deep Zoom technology, he immediately convinced the Hard Rock Café client that it was a must-have addition to the site. To meet their deadlines, he added several .NET developers to the team — none with Silverlight experience — and they were instantly productive because they were using the “same toolset, the same source control system, and the same language,” he says. “If you have .NET resources available, it's much easier to teach them web design or how to work with web designers, than to have them learn ActionScript 3.”
That said, Flash's biggest advantage as a development environment is that it's proven for rich-media websites, and Silverlight is the newcomer. For example, Ron Matthews, digital-media director for the Seattle SuperSonics, recently switched over from the NBA's HTML-based content-management system to produce the league's first all-Flash site (Figure 2). His vision was to deliver an immersive experience with exclusive behind-the-scenes video, audio, and photo content, including game coverage, player interviews, and dance team videos.
However, Matthews also wanted to monetize site content with provisions for video advertising and offer others the ability to embed the new integrated media player into their websites or blogs. Although he considered Silverlight before ultimately choosing Flash, Matthews ultimately decided that the project itself “involved enough unknowns” that he wanted to stay with a technology that they did know. The other factor that Matthews cited in his decision to choose Flash was the installed base, airing his concern that a certain percentage of visitors forced to install a plug-in to view content will decline and walk away.
