• + Packages and Classes

  Page 3

  • Finding the Right Package and Class

    Page 4

• + Jumping into Display Programming

  Page 7

  • Loading and Arranging Graphics

    Page 11

  • Loading and Displaying Text

    Page 14

• + Working with Movie Clips and Buttons

  Page 22

  • MovieClip Objects

    Page 22

  • Buttons

    Page 35

• + Basic Structures

  Page 45

  • Data Types

    Page 45

  • Making Classes

    Page 46

  • Decision-Making: Conditional Structures

    Page 51

  • Loops

    Page 55

• + Object-Oriented Programming

  Page 59

  • Why OOP?

    Page 60

  • ActionScript 3.0 and OOP

    Page 61

  • OOP Fundamentals

    Page 61

  • Design Patterns

    Page 70

  • Next Step for Object-Oriented Programming

    Page 74

ActionScript 3.0 Programming: Overview, Getting Started, and Examples of New Concepts is a 76-page document designed to introduce those familiar with general programming principles to ActionScript 3.0. ActionScript 3.0 compiles and runs much faster than preceding versions, and the reasons have much to do with the structural changes Adobe has added: You truly do need to use ActionScript differently than you have previously, if you're already ActionScript programmer. If you're new to ActionScript, but are looking at it from a Java or C++ or C# perspective, you may be intrigued at how different ActionScript is now compared with what you'd known it or heard it to be before.

This document employs reusable code examples to demonstrate the basic functionality of ActionScript 3.0 in the following topic areas: Packages and Classes; Display Programming; Movie Clips and Buttons; and Basic Structures. A concluding section helps those unfamiliar with OOP (Object Oriented Programming) and Design Patterns get acquainted with these concepts, as a knowledge of them will greatly benefit anyone getting into ActionScript 3.0 who wants to get the most out of it.