There are many ways a programming language, platform, or technology can reach the end of its life. Of course, the most spectacular of these “deaths” are when a technology’s career suddenly ends. But let’s not get too carried away.
Flash was originally created in the mid-1990s to create spectacular vector graphics animations that people could play using a browser plug-in called Flash player.
As the technology spread, the need for several new functions emerged, such as: the ability to play “traditional” videos, not just animated ones, and the possibility of interactivity. Thanks to these, the flv file format was created, which enabled the playback of videos in good quality, and the ActionScript language, which was based on ECMAScript (JavaScript). However, Flash had a major flaw: it required the Flash Player plug-in to use it, which was ruthlessly eliminated by system administrators in corporate environments. On the one hand, because Flash Player posed a security risk and an attack surface, and on the other hand, because people liked to spend their working hours playing various games made in Flash.
The demise of Flash wasn't a sudden death, but rather a slow process with a few spectacular moments. The most important of these are:
- In 2010 , Steve Jobs announced that Apple products would not support Flash content playback.
- Between 2012 and 2014, the HTML5 standard was introduced in many areas of IT and all major browsers started supporting it. This made video playback, interactivity, and animation available without any browser plug-ins.
- In 2015 , YouTube replaced Flash-based video playback with HTML5.
- Adobe will end support for Flash in 2020 .
However, the advent of HTML5 did not only kill Flash, but also Microsoft's similar technology called SilverLight, the official development of which was stopped by the company in 2012.
Although there are still websites that use Flash today, it is safe to say that the technology will be completely forgotten by the end of the decade. Why is it important to remember Flash? Because it shows that no technology lasts forever, and we have to keep up with the latest developments, otherwise we will be forgotten and become obsolete just like the technology itself.