I am curious to know what people's thoughts are on flash, the flash community, and actionscript as a programming language.
I do like actionscript, it's incredibly easy. Anyone who reads the c++ boards on this forum will know how useless I am at c++, yet I made an xml image viewer ( here ) in less than an hour. Something I wouldn't be able to even attempt with my c++ knowledge.
I think its popularity is partly due to it's accessibility. The power to have objects and graphics whizzing around the screen with minimal code is kinda cool. Currently the flash community are raving about Papervision3D (a 3d graphics API for AS3) and adobe AIR (lets you create desktop applications in flash) hardly groundbreaking stuff as far as programming in general goes.
But I think Mike Chambers put it best when he was talking about AIR. That it allows people to make desktop apps relatively easily without having a degree in computer science, and this is what draws people to it.
As a language, it lacks the speed, power and depth of C++. But as we all know, c++ can be infuriatingly difficult at times, and AS3 offers a welcome break for me at times. I use both, and probably will continue to use both.
I was wondering what other people thought