The use web tool for Macromedia Flash is one of the endless debates held by the developers. The controversy began, or at least significantly quickened, with the famous article by Nielsen: Flash: 99% Bad, who helped him shortly after signing a deal with Macromedia to improve the usability of the tool. The arguments used in the article were basically three: Flash encourages design abuse, conflict with the foundation of the web and its development requires resources that could be used better.

All that said Nielsen was and still is true, but his view was quite skewed, with little constructive spirit. Flash is just a tool, not a development trend, and as such can make it a good or a bad use, in the same way that Dreamweaver can do disastrous code or standard code, and Google can show satisfactory results or links that have nothing to do with the search.

Is obvious that Flash on the web has many problems of usability and accessibility but should be judged by what it is, and not by the proper or improper use made of it. Before you make a face at anything that smells of Flash, as many developers, you should see the tool from a global viewpoint, with more perspective.
Flash is not a web page editor

Flash is a vector animation tool that uses 2D Shockwave and can create two types of files: SWF plugin that needs to be executed, and EXE. We need not look beyond this definition, Flash is not a web page editor. The Flash files can embed in many containers among which are the internet browser, but this does not make a specialized tool to create web pages.

It should be noted that Flash on the Internet is not limited to editing web pages, understood as systems of navigation through information. Explanatory diagrams, games, virtual cards are examples of a use of Flash on the web entirely consistent and comfortable. The filing alternatives for these elements could be: director, with a much less common plugin, a Java applet, an obvious difference with difficulty, and even JavaScript with which it would be almost more complex than Java.

In addition to the web, Flash is a tool that is useful in other types of platforms such as interactive CDs, intranets with a controlled environment, games for mobile phones, CD cards … No doubt Flash is a tool with a future in many media including Internet is to be seen if you have a place like web page editor.
A fairly widespread technology

Flash technology is not a standard, therefore, and of course, is not compatible with 100% of the platforms. This finding may seem obvious is already critical, at least to take on certain responsibilities when using this tool. According to a study of their own Macromedia, 97% of Internet PCs have Flash Player installed. You can also check the statistics on the versions of Flash player installed.

A 97% may seem a high figure but you have to take into account the circumstances surrounding these data. First, the study indicates that the data are based on PCs with internet access, apart from other equipment such as Mac computers offline, and other platforms like mobile phones, personal digital assistants, televisions, game consoles … they also have a support Flash, but that would lower the percentage to some extent.

Secondly, the teams with the Flash Player version 6 are around 86% of the total, and we must bear in mind that the version of Flash for the MX, is the most widely used among developers. It is clear that the study and its statistical presentation Macromedia sweeps for your home. In any event, even that 97% was a real figure on the devices with network access, we would be treated the same way with an exclusive technology for the Internet.
Strengths of Flash

Beyond the statistics, Flash is almost certainly the best 2D animation program and as such has a number of strengths: it allows a lot of creativity in design, has some tools and interfaces that make it very easy to use, ActionScript code is based on fixed objects independent of the platform, communicates easily with the languages with which it coexists, has an extensive list of prefabricated components, has extensive support for permanent connections with XML Sockets and Flash Communication Server, a good object-oriented language with ActionScript 2.0 …

The tool has a depth that grows with each new version, far beyond the concepts of animation and movement. All these features and some more make Flash a very powerful tool.
Weaknesses Flash

The tool also has many weaknesses, and more when it focuses on the web environment: Flash is a proprietary technology, and therefore need to develop a license, which combined with differences between editable files (fla) and executables (swf and exe) greatly impedes teamwork. As a publisher websites has weaknesses in aspects of usability and accessibility makes it impossible to link separate documents, not taken into account by search engines, it disables the buttons on the browser back and forward …
A responsible use on the Web

Many reviews suggest that Flash is a potential standard for the web, but the truth is that it lacks many barriers to overcome to become one. Meanwhile, Flash will continue to be an excellent tool that suffers abuse.

Poor integration of Flash with usability, accessibility, the concept and operation of the website makes their use for basic elements like menus or text is inadvisable and abuse from the general viewpoint of users. However, the use of Flash as a web page editor can be somewhat responsible if the developer knows the limitations of the tool and assumes the risks involved.

Finally, Flash is a powerful tool for a variety of media. His presence on the Internet is useful in support elements such as diagrams, animations, games … that otherwise would be almost impossible to reproduce, but not elements that are much more accessible using standards supported by 100% of the platforms.