Iiiiiiiiin the red corner we have Flash; my first love and an old favourite amongst the crowd.
Iiiiiiiiin the blue corner we have Javascript; the cocky new kid on the block with a little bit of an attitude.

Lets get it on…

Round 1
It was not so long ago, that simple blending images, animation and most interactive features were impossible without the use of Flash. Nowadays, Javascript (and his buddies jQuery, Mootools etc) offer web designers and developers the chance to produce not only eye catching, but highly functional elements relatively simply. Javascript is becoming more and more popular and it seems that for many of its old uses, Flash may be on the way out.

Round 2
Quite a start from our man in the blue I’m sure you’ll agree, but fear not, Flash is a fighter and is by no means ready to through in the towel. You see Javascript may seem to be the future for concertina menus, fading lightboxes etc, but it can’t compete with Flash for its shear strength and powerful functionality. Flash provides a degree of freedom of development that’s not found elsewhere, and allows you to place (almost) anything you want anywhere on the stage without the usual css concerns. You couldn’t produce a mind blowing site such as http://www.ecodazoo.com/ without the use some serious actionscript and a monster amount of tweening. Not right now anyway…who knows what the future holds for Javascript…

Round 3
So we’ve covered the advantages of each but what weaknesses do both of our contenders have? Firstly, users must have Flash Player installed (most people do) and also, up to date. On the flip side, users can disable Javascript support if they so wish, leaving poor little Java crying in the corner. This is mainly due to security concerns, or simply because JavaScript is often used for junk, cursor trails, games and other unwanted annoyances.

One of the major selling points of Java, and this is a biggy, is that the text gets picked up by search engines. Yes yes, I know Flash text is starting to take off in the SEO world, but it still has its limits. Flash can also often fall victim to larger file sizes especially if you get carried away with animations and sounds, resulting in longer loading times. However I find that an attractive preloader can do wonders to keep the user entertained…check this one out: http://www.cocacolazero.com/index.jsp#/rooftopracer

Final Result
Match abandoned!
Ok, it was a good scrap, and even though as you may have gathered I am an old school Flash warrior, I can’t give either of these worthy contestants the overall victory. While Javascript has so many advantages for simple(ish) features, you only need to browse through my beloved www.fwa.com to see the immense power of Flash. And though Java seems to be getting more powerful by the day, all I can say is I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Flash…for all you dedicated Javascript fiends, I think Flash will be hanging round like a bad smell for many years to come…