Sascha Wolter

Years of Flash experience: 9

How did you get started in Flash?

I was studying computer science but I found that I did not care much for programming abstract algorithms in dark basement labs. When I first started working with Macromedia Director 4, I hated it. My computer scientist point of view did not relate with all those movie-related tools. After a while I started to love this "universal Swiss Army knife" for application and multimedia development.

My first experience with Flash 2 was quite similar to that of Director 4. I had to present both at CeBIT—one of the biggest computer expos anywhere—where I got addicted to this cute new tool. Yes, Flash 2 was cute but now with Flash 8 and Flex 2, it has grown up and become much more impressive and even easier to use. Thank you, Macromedia, for making it possible for me to learn and present this amazing technology.

How have you used Flash in the past and how do you use it today?

At first I used Flash as an authoring environment for creating websites, games, ads, and so on. Now there are more and more business solutions I create with Flash, Flex, and Flash Media Server.

What does Flash mean to you personally?

To be honest, Flash is so much a part of my life that I have to treat myself sometimes by not working more than necessary during my spare time (although only if I want to). Otherwise my wife will leave me. She really thinks that Flash is a competitor, which only confirms my assumption that Flash could be female.

What does Flash mean to you professionally?

I definitely have the best job in the world. Flash makes it fun to generate amazing, creative results. It makes it a challenge to create code that performs well. I love to refine a good idea and then create the plan and architecture to implement it. I enjoy teaching and coaching people in using this great technology. I like to write articles and books for people so they can make much better applications and websites than I ever could.

And every time I worry that all of this could become boring, I discover something new and amazing in the Flash universe that I have to explore.

What has Flash taught you about software development and the web?

Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. Flash started as an animation tool (which it still is) and now it is the first choice for business applications—a.k.a. rich Internet applications. Only a few years ago we talked about movies; now we create documents or applications with Flash. Everything seems to get more complex but, actually, only the possibilities really grow. The technology itself stays almost as easy as it ever was.

Which feature(s) of Flash amazed you the most, and why?

The combination of the movie metaphor, design tools, and programming language makes Flash an amazing authoring environment. I can probe things using design tools and refine them with code, or vice versa.

How has Flash enhanced your creativity?

Flash is the most powerful tool I know of to fulfill my ideas easily and absolutely. Sometimes I feel like a musician playing a piano, except that my instrument not only generates sounds, it can integrate all kinds of media, interact with users, and so on.

What's your favorite Flash tip or lesson?

My almost most-important tip is to separate experimenting like a virtuoso from working in a structured format. My first step when working with Flash is to define a structured plan (something like UML). After this, the funny part starts with testing all my ideas before adding them to my structures!

What cautionary tale can you relate to other developers?

I think the biggest mistake most people make is thinking they can be an "expert generalist" in Flash design and Flash programming. Even though it may be fun to design when you are a programmer, and program when you are a designer, I have not met many people who are overwhelmingly good in both areas. It definitely helps to acquire as much general knowledge about the whole Flash ecosystem as possible, but you should learn to specialize.

Where will Flash be 10 years?

I think there will be Flash operating systems or Flash embedded systems which make developing cross-platform applications and content very easy. This includes very powerful APIs and low-level operations for every purpose, such as 3D, sound manipulation, and so on.

But the best of all is the easy use of all these features to fulfill the vision of Web 2.0—or whatever user experiences we will create then.

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