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Flex vs Ajax (Hint: Ajax is Better!)

I recently wrote about the alternatives to Ajax, so it was interesting to read this post by Alex Bosworth on Flash and its role in web services. He makes some interesting points on the advantages of Flash in web apps:

I'm not talking about the interface, but about the underlying data power afforded by Flash. The ability to make persistent socket connections alone has huge implications for rich app development. Flash also has more access to the multimedia parts of your computer, enabling things like Google Video. Also the browser side caching story with the limitations of cookies is pretty nuts in the days of 500 gig hard-drives.

Now I'm not an Ajax zealot, but I feel that Ajax - at least at the time of writing - is more suited to creating web apps and already has a lead over Flash. What's more, Alex provides this long list on the disadvantages of Flash-driven interfaces:

1. They don't mesh well with the web experience - subtle browser cues like cursors and fonts are reset to the particular application/flash version, links don't work right, right click doesn't work right, etc
2. They don't stream gracefully
3. They invent new ui conventions all over the place
4. You can't copy and paste from them - (except from form controls)
5. They don't work with the back button without hacking
6. They're costlier/harder to develop
7. They don't degrade gracefully.
8. They are slow - macromedia/adobe continues to work on making Flash faster and computers are getting faster, but rendering flash apps can still take longer than web pages.

But perhaps it's wrong to frame this as a debate between Ajax and Flash - the two combined could create a smooth, intuitive user experience. In the same way that too much Flash is irritating, too much Ajax gets in the way of usability. It's really all about context and choosing the right tools for the job.

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