Due to the ever-changing culture of the web, it is no long realistic to just focus on the Adobe Flash Platform. At this stage of my professional career, it is important to know the nuances of differing web technologies particularly related to HTML5. Last year, I have seen this paradigm shift of web development emerge from several events:
- The conferences I attend to no longer just focus on the Flash Platform; it is a migration of web technologies to javascript libraries and HTML5
- The market increasingly demands in mobile app development and in compliance for HTML5 type of browsers
Although I love working with the Flash Platform, it is important for a developer to know the pros and cons of using any sort of technology and to know which tool is best for the job.
This year, I plan to get my feet wet in certain JavaScript technologies (jQuery, node.js, impact.js [for game development]). Regardless, the Flash Platform is still a viable platform for development particularly in the gaming industry and in 3D application development taking advantage of the Stage3D features of Flash Player 11. Away3D is also another Actionscript library to look forward to since I had attended last year’s Flash in the City conference seeing how the .awd file format renders 3D objects at a phenomenal rate.
In e-learning, I’ve had the chance to create simulation-based courseware, and I am pariticularly happy how things worked out. I hope I can get the time more into widget development. But I expect the CS6 suites to come out in the spring time, so I might have to wait it out.
There is so much to learn, but it is definitely an exciting time to be a developer.
Cheers and Happy New Year!