Sinopsis
Flash has begun to mature as a product, and ActionScript has begun to mature as a language. That represents both opportunity and challenge to you. As a mature language, ActionScript provides a broad spectrum of features and functionality. The possibilities are limitless: There is great opportunity to build new, innovative, useful, and interesting applications using Flash and ActionScript. However, with that opportunity comes the challenge of learning how to use ActionScript effectively. If you want to express your thoughts and feelings well, you need the right language for communicating them. Likewise, with ActionScript the challenge is to learn the language so that there is a natural flow of expression that is seamless from its conception to its manifestation in code.
Our goal with this book is to provide you with the resources to learn the language so that you can express yourself elegantly and eloquently. We make every attempt to meet you right where you are in your journey, and to provide you with the support to get where you want to go. As you can see by the page count of this book, ActionScript is not a short topic. In fact, if you’re new to ActionScript it may seem overwhelming. However, it’s our intention to make learning ActionScript accessible. In this book, you’ll find that we’ve organized the topics in a way that we feel is most accessible to readers.
With Flash 8, you can build a tremendous variety of projects— from games to commerce applications to prototypes and beyond. Regardless of the type of project, there are some common threads when building Flash applications. One of those common threads is the subject of this book—ActionScript. In this chapter,
we’ll look at the sorts of things you can do with ActionScript in Flash 8. We’ll also discuss the new features so that you can get a sense of what topics you’ll be able to learn in this book
we’ll look at the sorts of things you can do with ActionScript in Flash 8. We’ll also discuss the new features so that you can get a sense of what topics you’ll be able to learn in this book
Content
- Getting Started with Flash 8 ActionScript
- Introducing Flash 8
- Learning ActionScript Basics
- Constructing ActionScript
- Working with Functions
- Getting to Know Objects
- Debugging and Error Handling
- Using Core Classes
- Working with Arrays
- Using Numbers
- Using Math
- Working with Dates and Times.
- Working with Strings
- Applying Regular Expressions
- Working with Display Objects
- Using Display Objects
- Working with Movie Clips
- Drawing Programmatically
- Transforming Colors
- Applying Filters
- Using the Bitmap API
- Working with Text Fields and Selection
- Formatting Text
- Scripting Player Control
- Managing Mouse and Key Interactivity
- Working with the Stage
- Using Context Menus
- Understanding the Capabilities and Security Objects
- Printing
- Working with Media
- Programming Sound
- Managing Video
- Using Components
- Using UI Components
- Styling UI Components
- Creating Custom Components
- Managing Data.
- Using Shared Objects
- Understanding LocalConnection Objects
- Programming with the XML and LoadVars Classes
- Using Persistent Socket Communications
- Using Web Services
- Introducing Flash Remoting
- Managing File Uploads and Downloads
- Working with Flash in Context
- Working with Flash in the Web Browser
- Making Movies Accessible and Universal
- Scripting for the Flash Stand-Alone Player
