Pronunciations
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/ˈswɪf/
Noun
A file encoded in the defunct Adobe Flash file format SWF.
- Examples
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More examples (3)
On the Web, linking to a SWF directly is not a very attractive option. You can’t control the content around the SWF or the title of the page in the browser title area. It’s also difficult to add content that’s friendly to search engines, and it’s impossible to detect a Flash version or provide alternate content for people with special needs. For these reasons, most developers choose to embed their SWFs in an HTML page for their end users.
A SWF file, or simply “a SWF,” is an efficient, compressed binary file that can contain graphics, animation, text, bitmaps, sounds, video, and even arbitrary data. […] When compiling AIR apps, an .air file is generated, but even this is a package that contains SWFs for its executable ActionScript code.
When you run a SWF using Flash Player on your desktop, it loads and runs the SWF. Well, of course, why wouldn't it? When you run a SWF in a browser, this isn't always the case, though. Sometimes, browsers cache SWFs, meaning that they save a copy locally and then load that copy—rather than the online version—the next time you request it.