Beginning ActionScript 2.0

Chapter 9. Working with Components

Imagine what it would be like if you had to build everything that you work with during the day from scratch! It sounds silly, but in the "old" days that's what developers had to do with their code. Many developers continue to do so, although it's redundant and adds to the workload.

Since MX 2004 (version 7), Flash has had a complete component architecture that lends itself to drag-and-drop authoring and to re-use between developers. Components can be bundled into individual extensions, and the extension manager is responsible for putting the pieces of each component in all the right places. The component architecture makes use of the class development mechanism to simplify component creation, and the idea of the compiled clip allows components to be completely self-contained into clips that could not be tinkered with except through defined mechanisms.

Thankfully, you do not need to re-create user interface controls every time they are needed. There is a growing body of components out there that anyone can use to extend their projects. Take a look at Macromedia's component exchange at http://www.macromedia.com/exchange/ for a large collection of components.

New to Version 2.0

Version 1.0 of the component architecture was introduced with Flash MX, which corresponds to the introduction of version 6 of the Flash player. Version 2.0 was introduced with Flash MX 2004 (version 7) and continues mostly unchanged in Flash 8. The version 2.0 component architecture ...