The first was this "guys i've missed" post where JPZ throws some links to the blogs of people he read years ago. He's got a good list there (despite my being in the mix..). At one point over the years I've met, had lunch or dinner with, or drank beers with almost half the people on that list. Way back when these people (and others..) were the motivators and movers and shakers that kept a bunch of us pushing the boundaries and learning as much as we could. I can remember passing the MX developer exam just a few years ago and looking at the list of others who had passed it. Just like the list JPZ put together I felt like I knew most of the people on that list. What I'm getting at is this: The Flash world has been a tight knit community where people shared knowledge freely and helped each other. Without the help of many other Flash developers I wouldn't have the great job that I have, and wouldn't be getting to work on the cool projects that I do.
The second post/comment was this:
"Many days, when I am frustrated, searching for the answer to a seemingly simple question, I find myself longing for the huge developer community that Microsoft has. Just my opinion, but I think this is the greatest advantage Microsoft has."that came up on a post that Grant Skinner did about Silverlight. I had to kind of blink a few times after reading that. Grant did respond and pointed him in the right direction, but I was stunned. Years ago I tried dipping my foot into the .NET world and had the exact same reaction. I would have a simple question, search all through the docs and not find an answer, and then go search the web. I couldn't find anything. And at the same time I had loads and loads of resources for Flash on the web, and multiple communities I could get answers from quickly when I was totally stuck.
What impresses me is how many of the people on the list JPZ gave are still actively contributing to the Flash community after 5+ years.
What saddens me is the influx of new talent into the Flex, Air, and mobile areas of the Flash world who aren't aware of the resources available to help them learn. The quote above from the .NET developer is not unique. I've seen quite a few posts or comments from folks saying there isn't a community to support Flash (huh?).
I'm also wondering if some of the traditional Flash news and technology is getting drowned out in the sea of Flex, Air, and mobile news. I've been noticing that search results are increasingly including Flex specific content at the top of the search results and I have to really dig to find what I'm looking for. And so it just might be that many of the old guard Flashers are now focusing on the new Flash platform technologies of Flex, Air, etc..
