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An Overview of ActionScript

An Overview of ActionScript. The Powerful Scripting Language of Macromedia Flash. History: Purpose. Front End Development Character Animations Rich Application Development Web Services Motion Graphics. History: Author. Macromedia Flash Engineering Team Approachable Creative Power

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An Overview of ActionScript

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  1. An Overview of ActionScript The Powerful Scripting Language of Macromedia Flash

  2. History: Purpose • Front End Development • Character Animations • Rich Application Development • Web Services • Motion Graphics

  3. History: Author • Macromedia • Flash Engineering Team • Approachable • Creative • Power • Gary Grossman • Senior Engineering Manager, Macromedia Flash Team

  4. History: Macromedia Flash • Vector Animation Tool • Mostly Web Deployed • Flash Player • Enjoys a 98% of the World’s browsers support • Evolved into a rich client delivery vehicle

  5. Flash and ActionScript • ActionScript is the Scripting language developed for Flash • Most notably handles interactions and event-handling in flash • Has access to full capabilities of Flash

  6. Flash and ActionScript • Macromedia Flash Interface • - Concept of a timeline

  7. Flash and ActionScript • Actions Frame • Good Program-ming practice

  8. History: ECMA-262 • Based on several originating technologies • JavaScript(Netscape) • Jscript(Microsoft) • Invented by Brendan Eich at Netscape • Started Development: November 1996 • Approved as international standard: April 1998

  9. History: ECMAScript • Scripting Language • Originally designed for the Web • Object based • Cluster of Communicating Objects

  10. History: ECMAScript • Built-in types: • Undefined • Null • Boolean • Number • String • Object

  11. History: ECMAScript • Built-in objects: • Global • Function • Array • String • Boolean • Number • Date • Math

  12. History: ECMAScript • Built-in Operators • Unary • Multiplicative • Additive • Relational

  13. ActionScript • Flash MX runs ActionScript version 6 (MX) • Differs slightly from the ECMA-262 standard

  14. Differences from ECMAScript • Exception Handling • String to Boolean conversion • Case sensitivity • Function Constructor • Date Object

  15. Differences from JavaScript • Object Model • Undeclared Variables • Invoking Undeclared Variables

  16. Lexical Structure • Whitespace • Statement Terminators • Comments • Reserved Words • Identifiers • Case Sensitivity

  17. Features: Strengths • Cross-Platform Consistency • High-level Abstraction • Massive Developer base • Massive Web use • Object-Oriented • Inheritance • Polymorphism

  18. Features: Weaknesses • Limitations • Flash Scripting language • Proprietary Flash Player • Exception Handling

  19. Sample Implementations • Kartoo • Neostream Interactive

  20. Flash Player • Not open source • Flash Player Specification License • May have been developed in several languages • Portable C++ source code version • Hint of java

  21. SWF file format • Open Source • Designed with the following in mind: • On-screen Display • Extensibility • Network Delivery • Simplicity • File Independence • Scalability • Speed • SWF file format • http://www.openswf.org/spec

  22. Links • www.macromedia.com/support/flash • www.flashkit.com • www.ultraschock.com • www.asp101.com/articles/flash • www.flashcom.info • www.macromedia.com/software/flash/flashremoting

  23. Resources • ActionScript for Flash MX: The Definitive Guide • Colin Moock, O’Reilly Publications • Macromedia Flash Support Site • http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash • ECMA Language Specifications • www.ecma-international.org/publications/ files/ecma-st/Ecma-262.pdf

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