Learning ActionScript 3.0, 2nd Edition

Preface

When deciding if the book in your hands will be a good resource for your library, it might help you to know why we, the authors, wrote this particular book. We are both developers who use ActionScript extensively in our everyday work, but we are also teachers. Collectively, we have taught thousands of students at multiple universities, training facilities, and conferences, and yet we share one significant common experience. We were consistently told that no feature-rich ActionScript book existed that didn’t assume readers already had extensive programming experience and an understanding of object-oriented programming.

So, we started to research how we could fill this void and provide a book to our students that would really help them beyond the classroom. We talked with a lot of students, user groups, and instructors and began to sketch out a book that would put what we learned into practice.

When ActionScript 3.0 was released, the interest in the language grew dramatically. In the Flash community reactions ranged from excitement to uncertainty to fear, as the ActionScript 3.0 learning curve became apparent. Talk of the Flash Platform splintering into Flex (“developer”) and Flash (“designer”) camps left many designers and programmers more uncertain than ever about their futures. When Flash CS3 Professional was released, the need for a guiding resource increased, and we knew it was time to write the book you hold in your hands.

We hope this book will help ActionScript coders ...