Flash is a multimedia program developed by software developer Macromedia Corp (now part of Adobe, Inc.). Its initial primary purpose was to enable animated images to be small enough in file size, so as to download quickly over the internet. Flash achieved this by using vector graphics to build its animations, as opposed to bitmap animation.

Flash has quickly developed into a full-blown vector animation program. With the growth of broadband, some web designers are using Flash to create whole web sites, with embedded video graphics, games and other complicated interactive features. Interactivity is built into Flash, by web developers, using a form of scripting called ActionScript.