What is the difference between Adobe Flash Player and Shockwave Player?

Flash and Shockwave are two very different multimedia platforms.





(WARNING, THIS WILL BE LONG)





Flash is smaller, more handy, and is therefore used more widely. It also loads much quicker than Shockwave. If you've ever used a Shockwave game online, you will notice that it takes a long time to load. Also, Flash is simpler, and easier to write. Flash file editors are generally less expensive than Shockwave file editors, because they need less coding.





Shockwave, on the other hand, is much more complicated and difficult to write. This is a step up from the Flash platform. It has a lot more features, like multiuser chat, XML parsing, HTML manipulation, distant file retrieval, and lots more. It does not start instantly, because there is lots more code and files to load. Also, one interesting thing that it can do is load flash into a direct Shockwave file, which cannot be achieved vice versa.





Flash uses the .SWF file format, while Shockwave uses the .DCR format. Flash files are generally smaller than Shockwave files.





Flash is designed for websites, to give an instant presentation, while Shockwave is designed for web applications and more complex multimedia work.





Hope it helps!What is the difference between Adobe Flash Player and Shockwave Player?
Flash is what you need today for the Internet: YouTube, animations, etc.





Shockwave is what you needed 10 years ago. It is still used in educational presentations and on CD ROMS to make the interactive menus. It is larger in file size than Flash.

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