FOREWORD

When I started fooling around with Flash, back in the late 1990s, I remember being blown away by sites like Eye4U, GaboCorp, and NRG. What they did with Flash was absolutely revolutionary and never seen before on the Web, and wouldn't have been possible with traditional web technologies. When I start reminiscing about those days, I always think back to the early conferences. I remember going to the first Flash Forward in San Francisco. I wonder if anyone remembers getting a free copy of Dreamweaver or a free copy of GoLive. I'm sure I'm not the only one who went home with both, right? A few months later, I went to the first Flash Forward conference in New York. Anyone who was there must remember that Adobe party with the live performance of Run DMC, right? I also remember the Adobe keynote with a couple of guys in suits. I wonder if they still work at Adobe. Sigh, those were the days. Who would have thought back then that Adobe would one day buy Macromedia? The Flash community was certainly a little skeptical about that merge, but I'm sure everyone will now agree that it has made the Flash Platform even stronger.

Flash has definitely changed the way we think about the Web, and it continues to do so with every new release. The Flash Player has become a trusted household name and a synonym for interactive and engaging web experiences. With Flash Player installs being upgraded faster and faster, it literally only takes a few months before reaching critical mass. This almost immediately gives designers and developers the ability to use the new features introduced in a new version of the Flash Player.

The way we interact with web content isn't the only thing that changed. The content you find on the Web also significantly changed throughout the years. It's not just about animations and video anymore. More and more applications find their way to the Web. Rich Internet Applications are pretty common these days. RIAs combine the best of the Web with the power of desktop applications. With that shift in mind, Adobe added the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) to the Flash Platform. Flash designers and developers can now use their existing skills to build applications that run on the desktop and are not restricted by the browser sandbox.

With every new release, I am always amazed when I see what people do with Flash, and I am very curious to see where all this leads to in the future. Flash has become incredibly powerful, and the new features in Flash CS4 and Flash Player 10 will raise the bar once more. The Essential Guide to Flash CS4 with ActionScript will give you an excellent overview on how to use these new features. You'll deploy your work targeted at Flash Player 10 or the AIR runtime in no time. Flash on!

Serge Jespers

Platform evangelist

Adobe Systems