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With Adobe killing Flash mobile, there’s been much discussion about the the next big thing in interacitve development — HTML5. Let’s discuss, shall we?!

HTML5 interactive content is created by rendering vector and bitmap images on a new HTML graphical ‘canvas’ component. All of the code to display graphics, move graphics, play sounds, and capture user input is written in JavaScript.

I will admit that  do not like JavaScript. Compared to ActionScript, Java, and C#, JavaScript is incredibly primitive. There are no variable types or proper classes. I also had a lot of trouble finding a decent IDE.  JavaScript was meant for very small ‘scripts’, and it shows. I would never want to write something as complex as a game in JavaScript. (I am not alone in this opinion. There is an apparently ‘leaked’ internal email from Google that states the same thing).

To remedy JavaScript’s poor capabilities, two competing potential solutions appeared on October 11th:

Google Dart

• http://www.dartlang.org/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dart_(programming_language)

JavaScript++

• http://jspp.javascript.am/

Both of these languages offer Java/C#-like features, then compile to regular JavaScript code. I tried Google’s Dart, and I liked it very much. However, neither of these languages is really ready to use yet.

Another consideration is hardware accelerated 3D graphics. Flash now has it, and the other alternatives I will mention later do as well.

HTML5/JS also has a way to present GPU graphics via WebGL. However, WebGL currently presents three major problems:

1. Internet Explorer – Microsoft has not announced any plans to officially support WebGL
2. It has already displayed at least one horrible security issue
3. I’m not even sure WebGL is “ready” yet.

HTML5 is the next big thing, but it’s not quite ready for primetime  

There are very few decent games made in HTML5. One of the current best-known examples is Google’s Angry Birds but it only runs on Chrome browsers.

I know that some games exist today, and that it may be technically possible to make interactive content with it, but I don’t think it would be a pleasant experience. (There is also the issue that many browsers, both PC and mobile, won’t be able to run an HTML5 game *today*.)

HTML5/JS will most likely mature and become the next ‘Flash’. The idea of creating content *once*, and that content becoming immediately accessible to anyone using Windows, Mac OS, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Windows Phone, and any other operating system or device, is a very attractive one.

Since Flash is also great at creating vector-based cartoons and animations, my assumption is that Adobe will be successful at offering a similar tool that outputs HTML-compatible cartoons. Adobe may also be making some kind of HTML5 coding IDE, but based on the state of coding in the Flash CS5 IDE, I’m not sure I would want to use it.

However, if they can replicate Flash’s ability to control animation with code, that would be a great product.

This is the third of a six-part series on the future of Flash (yes, future!) and the promised potential of HTML5, inspired by Adobe discontinuance of Flash on mobile browsers.

Click here to read the first post (Why Kill Flash Mobile When HTML5 Isn’t Ready for Prime Time?) and second post (“I’m Not Dead, Yet!”, says Adobe Flash).