Action Script 3 With Flash Cs3

Action Script with Flash CS 3

Learning Programming
learning to program is a process, not an event
expect to learn something every time you program
don't worry if you don't follow everything the first time through
even those things you don't understand will give you get a sense of what's possible

Programming: Talking to Kid
be explicit in every detail
list every single step that's necessary to complete a task

You can do with action script code:
control the play head of a timeline
move things around
create and manage user interfaces
play sounds
control video
manage data (xml, lists, etc)
communicate with server-side applications (e.g., web servers)

where to put the code
within a .fla file, code is attached to either a frame, button, or movie clip
to attach code to a frame, button, or movie clip, first select it, then type in the actions panel
notice that the actions panel title changes to match the current selection (Actions - Frame, Actions - Button, or Actions - Movie Clip
check the actions panel title before typing so you know what you're attaching your code to
code on a movie clip or button controls that clip or button
generally speaking, placing code on clips and buttons is discouraged, but is sometimes convenient

It’s a Stage Play
You got Stage
You got Timeline
You got Actors (MovieClip, Button, Graphic)
Plan Actions for Timeline and Actors
Control Timeline (play, pause, stop, go to)
Direct Actors(move, rotate, scale)

Operators
arithmetic: -, +, *, /
comparison: < (less than), > (greater than)
++,--
Operator precedence

conditional statements
if, else, else if
switch, case

Repetitive Tasks
while
for, for each in
while (compare) { statements update } for (initialize; compare; update) { statements }

Functions
Redundancy is badfunction displayArea (width, height) { trace(width * height);}
Built-in functions
Exiting functions
returning information to the point of execution