Chapter 3. The Engine Beneath Flash: ActionScript 3

In This Chapter

  • Understanding what you can do with ActionScript 3

  • Placing ActionScript on the Timeline

  • Communicating with buttons

  • Providing information just in time

  • Exploring ActionScript levels

ActionScript 3 is the programming language that can be used with Flash CS4. If you're new to Flash, you will find ActionScript to be a powerful and extensive language. However, you will also find that just a little goes a long way. Experienced Flash hands will see how to use ActionScript and shift from many of the old practices to new techniques for getting the most out of ActionScript 3's new features.

Book IV, which is dedicated to ActionScript 3, guides you through several uses of ActionScript and its levels of sophistication. In this chapter, we provide you with an introduction to ActionScript and tell you how to start using it. Also, if you have used ActionScript in Flash CS3, you will be delighted to find that the CS4 version has changed little from the CS3 version, which means that you don't have to figure out how to use the language all over again (as has often been the case in past revisions).

The Engine Beneath Flash: ActionScript 3

Understanding What ActionScript 3 Can Do for You

We like to treat ActionScript as the engine beneath your Flash creation. Think of it as you would after building a beautiful automobile chassis and body: You need an engine and a steering mechanism to ...

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