In the October issue of this journal, we had a small error; John Bland's fine article entitled "A Little OOP, CF Style" ended up with the classification of Flash ActionScript. Unfortunately it was not caught until the edition was in print. However, when I reviewed the article, I was struck by the fact that many of the OOP concepts John discussed, while putting them in a ColdFusion context, were equally applicable to ActionScript. As a matter of fact, John makes allusions to that very point.

As all of our technologies advance, it is getting harder to differentiate between them. ActionScript is very close, in syntax, to Java; which is very close to the C++ language. We will soon see ColdFusion looking more like ActionScript/Java/C++.

As these technologies grow closer, the ability to seamlessly merge them will also become easier. We already see Flash serving as the graphical user interface to Java applications, lessening the need for the Java applet. What could be more ideal than delivering the power of Java with the low-bandwidth flexibility of Flash? Macromedia's new product, Flex, is certainly taking us in the direction of merging divergent technology.

As industry professionals, we face a number of challenges for the future. First, we must accept that the old categories are quickly eroding away. To be serious developers, we need to have knowledge of multiple technologies. In my opinion, knowledge of Flash ActionScript 2.0 demands knowledge of Java. Second, we must realize that the distinction between designer and developer is slowly going away. Increasingly, graphics people must know some programming, and programmers must understand graphic concepts. Rest assured that for many the learning curve is going to be long and hard. But, in my opinion, this future is now carved in stone.

In September, I had the pleasure of speaking at the MXimize conference in Boston. Here we saw workshops for these seemingly divergent technologies. I delivered workshops on CSS, Dreamweaver Behaviors, and moving away from the Flash Timeline. Tom Green spoke about Flash Video while Joseph Lowrey and Art Phillips spoke about RAD (Art's series on RAD started in MXDJ October as well). Our own Dave McFarland, Dreamweaver section editor, spoke about Dreamweaver design concepts.

Conferences such as this, and the MAX conference just held, are important. I find that the interaction of the participants can be a shot of adrenalin. I was amazed at how many people, who had never met each other before, were exchanging business cards and networking with each other.

We will be repeating this conference in Orlando, Florida, December 14-16. I sincerely hope I will see many of you there (www.mximizeconference.com).

With all of these technologies coming together, education is going to be a major factor. As industry professionals, we must work constantly to update our skills to keep them fresh and marketable. In addition, training needs to be delivered to the end users of the products we are developing. Programs such as RoboDemo 5.0 are making major strides in delivering this needed training in a cost-efficient manner.

By the time you receive this issue, a new version of RoboDemo will be available. Not only will it have a new look and feel, but it will have a new name: Captivate. This product will have the ability to tightly integrate with Flash. Once again, we are seeing technologies merging. In my opinion, this is going to be a major topic within the e-learning community. In that light, we will develop a new section devoted to Captivate, headed by noted author Tom Green. Tom has already shown me some fascinating uses for this newly updated technology -- in fact, this issue of MXDJ has a review of Captivate.

Next month, I'll discuss the exciting plans we have for MXDJ in 2005.

Hope to see you all in Orlando.