Flash is now in its sixth incarnation (known as MX) and works by placing sequences of images along a Timeline, in much the same way as traditional cartoon artists produced acetate movies. Flash takes much of the effort out of the creation process by automating many of the tasks that traditional artists have had to do by hand. It also gives you total control over how the elements of the program interact with one another and with the end user.
Deceptively complex pages and animations can be put together in incredibly small files, which download very much faster than traditionally coded HTML pages. Most Web browsers support the display of Flash files, and – in short – no serious Web developer can now afford to be without it.