This thread is a continuation of a discussion over here:
http://www.lebgeeks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=29602#p29602
- Actionscript is cross-browser/browser independent in most cases (except when it relies on the browser for certain tasks like downloading files and sending loading events)
OK, a little background grants itself. This was my first real project ever. I was the programmer behind it, not the concept creator (though of course my input was considered and I had a bit of a veto). And I learned the language "as I was creating the website". So don't expect it to be bug free. However it has been hammered a lot and should be an enjoyable ride for those with enough CPU. There's a lot to explore really. Some sections are four levels deep, and each has it's own feel of sort, technically speaking. Also don't miss the search, the personalization, the forms (with server side captcha's) and a written-from-scratch light weight book flip in the employees section from careers.
Anyway though, to put things in perspective, IT DID win the Pan Arab Web Awards for the Bank section and multiple other awards. You can check them on the website itself.
http://www.alhilalbank.ae
And as said earlier, I have left my company to continue on my own, so I don't have to worry about it anymore (though I do sometimes).
As for SEO, it didn't really see the light. The implementation is ready somewhere, needing to be deployed. Within the trenches of the company.
The project started out using Papervision for 3D panels rotating around the user. It was completely different, and a whole lot less cluttered. A little by little, it grew to become this behemoth you see now.
Anyway, I am not a Javascript expert but I will report to you guys the many perceived advantages I had:
- A direct way to manipulate bitmaps
- Access to camera, microphone (I think if there's not a bug somewhere, you can tickle your camera at the horizontal edges and it will move the panels - access from personalization)
- Much better support for sounds, analysis of these sounds and visualization
- Extremely good community and not much noise (not a lot false positives in the community posts)
- Event system is a wonderful breeze. I think Javascript's is similar, but I know it's a strong point nonetheless multiplied by the adoption across the libraries in AS.
- Ability to use the camera;
- Ability to draw user content, create real time transition effects on scaling, coloring, position without a lot of hassle
- Much better productivity than Javascript - relies on propriety formats rather than html; talking graphics
- 3D is almost nonesense in Javascript. Actionscript has 3 open-source libraries, and flash player 10 has better support for more 3D to come in
- A lot better concurrent processes modeling in AS
To make it simple, much more games are written in Actionscript than in Javascript. So if your website looks like (code wise) a game, your better friend is Actionscript.
Mind you, I am not a Javascript guru. --Barely an actionscript one.
Hope this clarifies things a bit, willing to elaborate more and learn too.
