Forum Moderators: phranque
Last year Macromedia Flash (for version 5) added a component called an XMLSocket object to their Flash player. This object enabled you to make a TCP connection to a server, and exchange XML formatted information. This was incredible because, as all web developers know, dealing with a stateless protocol like HTTP is quite limiting. With the Flash 5 version of XMLSocket you could have a sustained TCP connection which you could do things like chat, stream data and real-time info, all without a refresh. The only problem was you were limited to text data (I believe).
Now Flash MX has been released (see [macromedia.com ]), which has expanded beyond the XMLSocket approach and now allows two way streaming of text, audio, video, etc. I guess it is too new b/c I really haven't seen anyone use it in the context described above.
Obviously, the two-way streaming between browser and server over TCP has always been possible, but not without some kind of ActiveX control or other object embedded in the browser. The great thing about using the Flash plug-in is it is already in 90%+ of all browsers.
No I don't work for Macromedia. In fact, I work for a very Microsoft-centric company that basically has nothing to do with Macromedia. I just think that when you combine the pervasion of the Flash plugin with the potential for streaming, real-time data in a cross-browser compatible interface, the possibilities are very cool.
