What's language should I use to build this app?

Question

Hi.

I need to make an application that works from the browser, that can capture video from the webcam, show to the user what's being captured, have an option of pausing this capture (optional, but I'd like to) and after finished the user would hit a "submit" button and send it to the site (server).

I've been struggling with JMF, because I only have some Java knowledge, but it's a very dark and obscure framework that doesn't have a lot of documentation.

So, what's the best way to me to do that, considering that I just know a little Java and would have to learn any other language from beginning (probably will be easier than JMF though ) ?

Answer 1

A dark and obscure framework without a lot of documentation probably won't be very well-supported in the future, either. It's probably worth jumping in and learning something.

The two obvious options are Flash and Silverlight. Of the two, Flash has a much wider installed base, but Silverlight uses Microsoft's .NET family of languages, and C# is more similar to Java than is Flash programming and will be much easier to learn.

Silverlight has Linux and Mac ports, but it's still best supported under Windows. (Flash is a bit better on the other platforms than is Silverlight, but it's still not perfect. To be fair, nothing is perfect on any platform.) Flash is, therefore, slightly more cross-platform.

On the grounds that more companies are looking for Flash developers than Silverlight developers, and even if Silverlight is real competition, Flash is probably here to stay, I'd recommend Flash. Either Flash or Silverlight will meet your needs, and Silverlight would be faster to get this project off the ground, but Flash will both reach more users and be more useful on your resume in the future.

Answer 2

Sounds to me like Flash would be a good bet. Especially if you are going to have to learn a platform anyway -- they have a good documentation site: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/video/

Good luck!