The ActionScript 3.0 Quick Reference Guide

Preface

ActionScript 3.0 introduced Flash developers to a new realm. In this improved territory, ActionScript has emerged from the gym with a new physique. The language is more powerful, more efficient, and—thanks to a new internal consistency—easier to learn for those new to the Flash Platform. As the saying goes, change is a good thing. On the other hand, too much of anything can be, well, nerve-wracking. For many, ActionScript’s change equates to a chronic attack of growing pains. Others, used to the paradigms and occasional quirks of ActionScript 2.0, find the new ActionScript 3.0 practically unrecognizable.

In any case, the ongoing support for ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0, in both the Flash authoring environment and Flash Player, means that learning ActionScript 3.0 is, for the immediate future, still an option. For now, you can choose when to learn the new version of the language (and to what degree), applying your newly earned knowledge on a project-by-project basis, if you want. Sometimes, it’ll be easier to decide when to use ActionScript 3.0 than to decide whether you should migrate existing code or start from scratch. For example, if you want significant performance gains, or to use a new feature specific to ActionScript 3.0, using the new language may be a foregone conclusion. How to arrive at completed ActionScript 3.0 code, however, is another question, and that’s where this book is useful.

This book aims to show you where Flash CS4 Professional and ActionScript 3.0 differ ...