ok, this is not an attempt to start a flame war but I’ve got something to get off my chest and this could result in one so here goes.
I’ve noticed in the showcase and crit forum the amount of sites being developed needlessly in flash is on the increase. For me this is killing the web. Flash is a tool to produce interactive, entertaining sites and the amount of plain, boring sites being produced in flash when they should have been done in XHTML/CSS is not only killing flash as an impressive product but it is having a knock on effect and that is that it’s killing the web. We all know at least one site that should have been XHTML and CSS.
And I know who to blame…self taught flash developers (usually designers). Yes controversial I know but something developers are taught from day one is the appropriate tool for the appropriate job, something designers are not. For designers it’s all about creativity and rightly so, but if you’re going to begin to cross over to developing then not just what you learn but why you’re learning it should be examined as well. “Cause it’s cool” doesn’t count as a good reason.
A lot of people who work with flash are designers who picked up actionscript (note I’m saying a lot of people, not everyone). This is all they know (well possibly very basic HTML). So when they’re approached to develop a site for a local client they open up illustrator and flash before pausing to think about platforms and hosting accounts.
My advice. If all you know is Flash, if all you know is Flash and photoshop and illustrator I ask, no I beg…please go away and learn XHTML (not HTML, XHTML) and CSS.
Some really good resources below…
http://www.w3schools.com/
http://www.htmldog.com/reference/cssproperties/
http://www.simplebits.com/
http://www.cssplay.co.uk/
and the one you should bookmark
thanks 
[/rant]
