Flash onparade.

(From Computeractive)

Byline: Rob Beattie

Chances are you've already encountered Flash. If you've ever visited a website that included animations, video clips or allowed you to interact with it in some way (to play a game, say) then the likelihood is that this content was displayed using Flash.

Flash is a set of programming tools used by web designers to make online pages more interesting and entertaining. As such, most web users tend to 'experience' Flash rather than actually wanting or needing to do anything with it, but as this Back to Basics explains, it's a technology definitely worth getting to know.

What is Flash?

Made by a company called Adobe, Flash is made up of two components. The first bit is a set of tools that programmers use to create animations, play videos and add interactivity to websites. …