The Flash Platform is dead! Long live the Flash Platform!
Adobe announced, or TechCrunch announced, or Adobe will announce… um… anyway, there’s this brand new thing called the Flash Platform now on Adobe.com:
https://www.adobe.com/flashplatform/
The Adobe® Flash® Platform is an integrated set of technologies surrounded by an established ecosystem of support programs, business partners, and enthusiastic user communities.
This is not to be confused with the Flash Platform that was announced by Macromedia several years ago. Not to be confused, because it’s the same thing. Which is good, because I’ve been running the Boston Flash Platform User Group for 3 years now. Would be a shame if that meant something else now.
Some have reported that Flex is changing its name to the Flash Platform, but I don’t really read it like that. In fact, this chart shows things very clearly:
I have to say though, that I’m really disappointed that Flex Builder is still Flex Builder. It’s SUCH a misnomer. As Chuck said in the link above:
The product we knew as FlexBuilder has really just been a much more code-friendly way to build apps for Flash. This name-changing effort will clear up a lot of confusion, especially to those new to Flash that didn’t quite understand how/why two differently named products ended up producing the same thing — a SWF.
I wholeheartedly agree. I spend many, many, MANY hours a week using Flex Builder and the last time I did anything with Flex itself was… I don’t remember. Some time this past summer I guess. It really should be Flash Builder, Flash Platform Builder, Adobe Builder, something else. I mean, look at that diagram above. It doesn’t make sense at all. Flex Builder is the tool, tied to the Flex Framework by name. But it also does just about everything in that Client box too. Well, we’ll see what they actually call it when Gumbo goes live.