Programming Flash Communication Server

This is the Title of the Book, eMatter Edition

Copyright © 2007 O’Reilly & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.

3

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Introducing the Flash

Communication Server

Macromedia Flash has evolved from a way to easily create and distribute lightweight

animated graphics on the Web to a rich application platform. Macromedia reported

that Flash Player 6 was available on more than 94% of Internet-accessible worksta-

tions in Canada, the United States, and Europe as of June 2004. Availability in Asia

exceeded 92%. Flash Player 7 penetration ranged from 67% in the U.S. to 81% in

Europe. (For the latest statistics, see http://www.macromedia.com/software/player_

census/flashplayer/version_penetration.html.) Flash Player 6 and 7 provide some

remarkable capabilities to the hundreds of millions of machines on which they are

already installed. With the user’s consent, a Flash movie can capture real-time audio

and video from the machine’s microphone or web cam and stream it to Flash Com-

munication Server MX. (Here we use the term movie to refer to .swf files. We use the

term video for visual content streamed from the server.) The server can redistribute

the streams to other users who have the Flash Player. The resulting real-time com-

munications make it possible to develop a remarkable range of compelling applica-

tions. The Flash authoring tool and the Flash Communication Server MX can be

used to create:

• Highly customized video conferences, team meetings, and web chats with share-

able components such as versioned text areas, whiteboards, and instant polls

• Video- and data-on-demand applications with rich user interfaces that can

include closed captions and skinnable controls

• Live event broadcasting with customizable user interaction such as moderated

chat and question/answer components

• Multiplayer games, simulations, and other applications with the added value of

audio and video if required

Flash and the Flash Communication Server MX (FlashCom) provide a rich develop-

ment environment in which applications that clearly match requirements can be cre-

ated without an outrageous investment in development time. The Flash Player and

FlashCom support a rich set of objects that make sharing real-time audio, video, and