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ActionScript Technology Center

ActionScript 3 guides, tutorials, and samples

ActionScript 3 expands the functionality of the ActionScript 2 language and makes programming significantly easier than in previous versions. By repackaging commonly used classes and objects as easily accessible APIs, ActionScript 3 provides faster, more direct access to the functionality you need for your applications. Regular expressions and E4X support make working with XML much quicker and more natural.

Programming Guides

• Programming ActionScript 3 for Adobe Flash CS4 Professional
• Programming ActionScript 3 for Adobe Flex
• Using ActionScript 3 Components
• Flex 3 Developer's Guide
• Developing Adobe AIR 1.5 Applications with Flex 3
• Developing Adobe AIR 1.5 Applications with Flash CS4

Overviews

• ActionScript 3 overview
• Tips for learning ActionScript 3
• Adobe Flash Platform ActionScript reference for RIA development
• Learning ActionScript 3 excerpts: OOP overview, display list, and programmatic motion
• Essential ActionScript 3 excerpt: Display and interactivity
• ActionScript 3 Cookbook excerpts: From custom classes to the rendering model
• Introduction to event handling in ActionScript 3
• Understanding the changes in the display API in ActionScript 3
• Tips for tuning ActionScript 3 performance for Flex and Flash developers

Adobe Flash CS4 / CS3 Professional

• The flash.globalization package in Flash Player: Cultural diversity without complexity
• Loading and saving local files with the FileReference class
• Programming with the Vector class
• Video: Learning ActionScript one-on-one
• Video: Colin Moock's "Lost ActionScript Weekend" series
• Approaching ActionScript from a designer's perspective
• Understanding ActionScript 3 debugging in Flash
• Loading images and Library assets in Flash
• Animation Learning Guide for Flash: Using ActionScript 3
• Six reasons to use ActionScript 3
• Object-oriented programming with ActionScript 3
• Creating animation in ActionScript 3
• Using timeline labels to dispatch events with the ActionScript 3 TimelineWatcher class
• ActionScript 3 Quick Reference Guide excerpts: Copy motion, display list, events, and migration
• Creating liquid GUIs with Flash and ActionScript 3
• Using ActionScript to pause and loop the timeline in Flash
• Unit testing with mock objects in ActionScript 3
• Using ActionScript 3 to retrieve MySQL data using a server-side ASP script
• Handling cue points for audio files in ActionScript 2 and ActionScript 3
• ActionScript 3 Design Patterns excerpt: Factory method and MVC
• Essential ActionScript 3 excerpt: Display and interactivity
• Filtering XML data in Flash applications using ECMAScript for XML

Samples

• ActionScript 3 samples for Flash
• ActionScript 3 debugging in Flash
• Creating your first ActionScript 3 class
• Deconstructing the ActionScript 3 Flash video gallery application
• Creating a preloader
• Puzzle Game sample application migrated from ActionScript 2 to ActionScript 3
• Formatting text for localized Flash projects using CSS, HTML, and ActionScript
• Creating the Kuler panel for Flash
• Saving Flash graphics as image files at runtime
• Creating movie clips with reflections in ActionScript 3

Adobe Flex

• The flash.globalization package in Flash Player: Cultural diversity without complexity
• Programmers adopt Flex and migrate to ActionScript 3 (Edge newsletter)
• ActionScript for Java developers – Part 1 (JavaWorld)
• ActionScript for Java developers – Part 2 (JavaWorld)
• Tips for tuning ActionScript 3 performance for Flex and Flash developers
• Unit testing with mock objects in ActionScript 3
• Unit testing and test-driven development for Flex and ActionScript 3
• Handling cue points for audio files in ActionScript 2 and ActionScript 3
• ActionScript 3 Design Patterns excerpt: Factory method and MVC
• ActionScript collections and functional programming
• Dependency injection with Flex

Samples

• ActionScript 3 examples for Flex
• Building an image-viewing widget with ActionScript 3

Adobe Flash Media Server

• Beginner's guide to using ActionScript 3 with Flash Media Server 3.5
• Creating a video player using the state design pattern and ActionScript 3

Engineering documents

Get involved in this open-source project, hosted by the Mozilla Foundation, that uses code powering the ActionScript Virtual Machine. To see where ActionScript 3 is heading, check out the public wiki for the ECMAScript 4 committee.