The Web 2.0 Expo last week provided a unique analysis of the future of the web and web development. Topics included the challenges facing the infrastructure of the web, Application Programming Interfaces (API), and the Flash vs. HTML5 debate raged on.
Facebook promoted its new technologies which they believe will extend the social networking giant’s external ties, including social plugins and the Open Graph Protocol. Their open framework, which doesn’t rely on any specific operating system, is engaging developers to the tune of $500 million in revenues this year.
Adobe was of course focusing on how their APIs provide better opportunities for developers to create engaging applications which are the future of the web. The real debate was obviously Apple versus Adobe, each of whom extolled the virtue of their own technologies while putting the other’s down.
While liking the idea of the possibilities that HTML5 provides, developers complained about the lack of HTML5 development tools and support. For now, Flash is still well established and isn’t going to do any time soon.