Any ideas on how to prepare for the future of Flash/Flex/HTML5 Development?

Question

I've chosen Flex 4 as the most appropriate technology to develop a graphically-rich web application (its not a simple content-driven site), but worried about how the recent negative press (i.e. security issues) may effect end-user's trust and ultimately whether the user-base may drop promptly in response. (I don't care if my app works on iphones or ipads for now)

I think Flash Builder 4 is an great development environment and has minimized development time for me/my team. After some basic testing of graphical animations similar to that used in my app - HTML5 didn't perform as fast, is inconsistent with browsers, and some animations are jagged (I expect browser performance and graphic libraries to improve over time). I also 'personally' dislike programming Javascript as I am very fond of strong-typing to uncover mistakes quickly.

If you develop Rich Internet Apps, how are you responding?

Are you preparing to potentially migrate to HTML5/Javascript? Java? No action?

BTW - I don't want pro/anti-flash arguments - just curious to see how the community is responding.

Answer 1

At the end of the day, Flash/Flex aren't going anywhere. If Flex 4 meets your current needs and you're aware of the limitations (ie can't deploy to iOS devices) then I say go for it. Yes it's true that the topic has become mildly politicized - but if you're offering something your clients need then they'd be silly to refuse to use it on the grounds that they support "HTML 5" - when HTML 5 clearly doesn't offer you the tools you need.

Plenty of awesome stuff is coming down the pipe in Flash, much of which simply can't be done any other way - google UJam for an example. I wouldn't let Steve Jobs scare you away from using the technology that works for your needs.