Last week Macromedia introduced Macromedia Flash MX, the first of an integrated family
of tool, server, and client technologies. There was
a lot of excitement on the various mailing lists and
newsgroups that cover both client- and server-side development.
Even though each community is different, I could see
some common themes emerge.
The toughest questions were about the new server
technologies that will work with Macromedia Flash
MX. It's hard to talk details yet, because as a publicly
traded company Macromedia is subject to many regulations
about "forward
looking statements". Last week's press release is necessarily
vague, more a bit of overall guidance for developers
than a real set of implementation details. It's like
the waiter offering a menu even though the chef hasn't
finished cooking yet.
But there are some things all of us can talk
about today.
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ColdFusion MX is the next version
of ColdFusion Server. It was previously codenamed
"Neo", and there was early guidance provided
on it through the last year.
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CFML (ColdFusion markup language)
is a tag-based server-side scripting language.
Web servers often have a free scripting language
built into them, but ColdFusion became the best-selling
application server because its tags and
higher-level functions offer a significant advantage
in overall development cost and productivity.
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ColdFusion MX brings the benefits
of developing in CFML to the Java™ architecture
standard. ColdFusion MX will run within a variety
of J2EE environments.
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Besides ColdFusion MX, the press release described
"a new Macromedia communication server technology
that will enable powerful capabilities including two-way
audio and video as well as real-time data transfer
with Macromedia Flash Player 6." If you used the Developer
Release of the Macromedia Flash Player 6 you probably
noticed the webcam
controls in its context menu, and if you were
at the opening presentation for Macromedia
Flash MX you saw real-time videoconferencing within
a Flash application. This communication server will
power real-time video feeds between multiple people
for the applications you design.
The press release also spoke of "a new server gateway
technology to build Macromedia Flash applications
that work directly with leading application servers
and web services." This probably sounds even more
mysterious than the video abilities. If you've checked
into web
services you've seen how a variety of data will
be offered by servers worldwide, and if you've looked
into ASP.NET you've seen how it's advantageous to
share a given user state on both the client and server
ends. Even though ColdFusion is arguably the most
efficient and economical environment, it's clear that
a lot of sites must be developed for other application
servers. Macromedia will also help with building rich
applications that work directly with leading application
servers and web services later this year.
Of these server technologies, Macromedia ColdFusion
MX is the furthest along with significant detail.
Please do read Jeremy's "rich
client" whitepaper and related articles as they arrive.
I know it's hard to scope out a technology before
it is fully delivered, but I hope this early guidance
helps you take advantage of these new opportunities
over the coming year.
This week there's an additional
bit of news for Director users...the new Macromedia
Flash MX playback abilities will be available to registered
Director owners as a new Flash Asset Xtra within 90
days. Even though Shockwave is restricted to Mac and
Win computers, it continues to offer a superset of
Flash's abilities by piggybacking atop its player
this way.
Here are some of the questions I've seen over the
last week, and at bottom I've got some questions
for you:
(Q) Can I use any video codec in Flash? How
about other video technologies?
(A) Sorry, no. The Macromedia Flash Player
is optimized for size and portability, which is how
we hope to see 100 million users within the first
month and expand into portable devices. The Macromedia
Flash Player 6 includes just a
single self-contained video codec, about 80K in
size, and we can't play back the range of related
video technologies you might find in a full-featured
web video player. We're trying for ubiquitous viewing,
rather than feature depth as in the Shockwave Player.
(Q) What does "MX" stand for?
(A) It's not an acronym, it's a name.
It has about as much intrinsic meaning as the name
Macromedia.
The letters don't stand for anything in themselves,
but we think this MX family of related applications
will deliver a big meaning by the time people are
using all of them together later this year.
(Q) Do I have to use Macromedia servers for
these new features?
(A) It depends on which features. We can't
make a PHP application server do things it never did
before, like videoconferencing and other work. But
the messages passed between client and server use
normal web formats like HTTP and XML. It's an advantage
for the Macromedia Flash Player to speak with various
servers, and for the Macromedia servers to talk with
various clients, but they'll be able to do the most
new things quickest when used together.
(Q) What happens if I don't have my own server?
(A) Macromedia Partners already include hosting companies,
and the design tools have included various Developer Editions in the past.
Right now we're trying to confirm our understanding
of the priorities developers have for various pieces
of work, so please tell us more in the Soapbox thread on this subject, thanks.
(Q) Will I be able to do these things on
a PDA or other portable device?
(A) This announcement may
have gotten lost in the shuffle, but "The Macromedia
Flash Player 6 SDK will be available for device manufacturers
later this year, which will enable them to build support
for the latest player into their devices and platforms."
The Player section of the site also includes a new
listing of current support
from various devices. If there's another device
you wish to be Flash-enabled, then please do add your
voice at that device manufacturer's feedback area,
and drop a note to our folks too, thanks!
(Q) Will Macromedia spy on me through the
new webcam?
(A) No, of course not, although I do like that
outfit you're wearing, is it new...? (Seriously, you
can read up on how you retain control in the new Macromedia Flash Player Help section, and
I'd recommend Mike's security
whitepaper too. If you have any concern
about security or privacy we need to hear about it
in the newsgroups or at the Macromedia Security Zone, thanks!)
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