The term “Web application” refers to an software application that is coded in a browser-supported language accessed over a network and reliant on a common web browser to execution of the applications.
Some of the commonly used packages for the creation of these web applications are:

1.Flash

2.silverlight

3.HTML5

Flash

Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcasting webpages. It has been positioned as a tool for “Rich Internet Applications”.

Advantages:
1. cross browser compatibility
2. interactive and expressive

Disadvantages:
1. Flash Requires a Plugin
2. Search Engine Optimization

Silverlight

Silverlight is an application framework for writing and running rich Internet applications, with features and purposes similar to those of Adobe Flash. The run-time environment for Silverlight is available as a plug-in for web browsers running under Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.

Advantages:
1. DOT NET compatibility
2. works on both desktop and web applications

Disadvantages:
1. Does not support cross browser compatibility
2. Silverlight plug-in is not compatible as Flash

HTML5

HTML5 is a markup language for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web, and is a core technology of the Internet. HTML5 has the new syntactical features that allows it to run videos and animation without installing an additional plug-in like Flash and Silverlight. However, it is still under development process.

Advantages:
1. The Rise of WebApps
2. More descriptive semantic

Disadvantages:
1. Browser Support

Flash has been dominating the web-space for over a decade it is the most widely used client based plug-in till now. Flash had a tough run with its competitor from Microsoft known as “silverlight” which provided application framework for writing and running rich Internet applications. However, after the release of HTML5 things got changed. HTML5 started dominating the INTERNET since it is free and open source. Although the world is moving to HTML5, the process will take years.

The above is a very rough outline of Flash, Silverlight & HTML 5 , if you have any questions, we would be happy to talk to you! 🙂

About the Author :

Karthikeyan.S works as a Software Engineer in Bobcares. He joined Bobcares in April 2012. He loves reading books and listening to music in his free time.

Blog edited by :

Appu Joseph Xavier works as a Software Engineer in Bobcares. He joined Bobcares in April 2012. He loves to watch movies in his free time.