ActionScript Newbie: Learn AS2 or AS3?

I'm wanting to get into Flash development, and I'm trying to
work out which language to learn. Do I take this opportunity to
skip straight to the newer ActionScript 3? Or do I learn the
"simpler" AS2, and migrate once I've mastered it?
I'm hoping to use my development skills mainly for animation
(not fully blown Flex apps).
Any help appreciated. Thanks very much.

There is definitely a much much higher learning curve for AS3
and learning
resources (as mentioned) are limited. You may want to
consider your own
skills as a programmer before deciding to jump into AS3.
Starting small
with AS1 or even AS2 basics might be easier until you get
familiar enough
with AS to get into AS3 (which is still fairly new and not
yet widely used).
"David Stiller" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
news:[email protected]...
> mambo_06,
>
>> Excellent, thanks. I'll probably invest in a copy of
Flash
>> CS3 (I've got version 8 at the moment).
>> Any recommendations on books for learning
ActionScript
>> 3.0, then?
>
> The only tough part about making recommendations at this
point (May,
> 2007) is that many of the ActionScript 3.0 books are
still being written.
> I should clarify that: they're still being written
specific to Flash (as
> opposed to Flex). Flex Builder was the first official
IDE to support AS3,
> so you'll find Flex books out there, but those may end
up frustrating you
> if you're more a Flash dev at heart.
>
> I recommended the Moock book to Rothrock specifically
because we've
> been friends (Rothrock and I) for some time, and I
imagine it will be well
> suited to his comfort level with ActionScript. Moock is
a gifted
> communicator, able to explain programming concepts
clearly. Even so, his
> books tend to appeal more to intermediate/advanced
readers, as Rothrock
> suggested.
>
> The Peters book is great for -- as the title implies --
making things
> move. It's an animation-via-programming book, and
belongs within an arm's
> reach of anyone interested in game development or
programmatic visual art.
>
> For an all-purpose approach to object-oriented
programming in general,
> I've been recommending Object-Oriented Programming for
Flash 8, by Peter
> Elst and Todd Yard, for a while now. Of course, that
relates only to
> ActionScript 2.0. I really don't know if they have a
second edition in
> the works, but if so, I would probably recommend it
without even reading
> it, as Elst and Yard are top notch developers, and their
first edition is
> great.
>
> There's a forthcoming Foundation ActionScript 3.0 with
Flash CS3 and
> Flex 2, by Steve Webster and Sean McSharry (should be
ready in June).
> I've read a handful of early-draft chapters and can say
it looks
> promising. That one is geared toward newcomers.
>
>
> David Stiller
> Adobe Community Expert
> Dev blog,
http://www.quip.net/blog/
> "Luck is the residue of good design."
>

Similar Messages

AS2 or AS3 + online Tut for beginners ?

Hi All,
Anybody can advise what is the easiest to learn for a beginner : AS2 or AS3 ?
I am trying to do a "liquid layout " in Flash and have found tuts either with AS2 or AS3. Though I am struggling to understand them and need to learn the basics either on AS2 or AS3.
If you know aswell a good website teaching the basics step by step.
Many Thanks

if you invest the time in AS3 it will probably be pay off the most in the end. AS2 as mentioned earlier is a bit easier to get up and running with and for many years powered many a great flash experience, but its days are numbered.
here is a very solid overview of AS3 in short easy to understand video tutorials.
http://tv.adobe.com/show/actionscript-11-with-doug-winnie
I would urge you not to rush. take it slow. watch the videos and try to apply each concept to your own project.

Anyone: as2 vs as3?

was looking at summerLongSince's post, basic as3, and it
occurred to me that the as3 version of what had been previously
done using as2 was more complicated and involved (see script
below). i am still relatively new to actionscripting and am
currently using/learning as2, so i am ignorant to the benefits as3
has to offer at this point. could anyone tell me what benefits the
as3 code below has over the as2 that precedes it? they both seem to
accomplish the same goal, only as3 seems to take more time and code
to do so. also, is moving to as3 worth the hassles that come with
learning an entirely new scripting language? i haven't even
mastered as2 and the thought of losing all the work i have put in
thus far is somewhat sickening. lastly, couldn't as3's benefits
have been implemented into flash without restructuring the entire
programming language?
thanks in advance,
_name

AS 3.0 comes with great features and 10 time faster than AS
2.0. you may find some link on adobe.com site.
for your current code. see this.

AS2 vs AS3

Hi,
I was just wondering in what format do people usually publish in: AS2 or AS3? Since there seems to be more widgets in AS2, do people actually publish in AS3?
I'm investigating creating Widgets and I was planning to do it in AS3 but ... is it the right choice?
What are you publishing in?
Whyves

Hi there
While I agree with what Lilybiri is saying, I'll add my own thoughts here.
Personally, I tend to use the defaults for many things with Captivate. And one of the defaults is that it defaults to AS2 setting. The only time I might consider using AS3 would be if someone were to offer something I needed to use that only was available in AS3. Then I would change. But I haven't encountered that situation so far.
So sure, I'm keeping an eye to the future as far as AS3 goes, but it doesn't really factor into the things I do daily. AS2 setting is default and seems to work fine. There are some nuances between the two as far as Captivate goes that you might consider.
For example, one of them is that if settings are AS2 and you are using variables in captions, you see a momentary flash of the variable before the value actually appears. I believe that goes away and is corrected if you switch to AS3.
Additionally, I presently am awfully Flash and AS ignorant. So if I were to finally begin learning the mysteries of ActionScript, I might be a lot more concerned.
Cheers... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
Captivate Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
Adobe Certified Captivate Training
SorcerStone Blog
Captivate eBooks

AS2 or AS3

Hello, i'm somewhat decent in flash. I know AS2, i started
learning AS3 today and find it to be more complicated and has so
many extra steps in coding. Number one thing i hate is having to do
all the code on the timeline, it will get so full of code if i have
several buttons/movieclips that need code, no way to do code when
you click on the button/movieclip in AS3 unlike 2.
Would it be dumb for me to continue to use AS2 and learn more
of it, or should i keep trying to learn AS3..... I don't do super
complex stuff, mostly timeline navigation and animations.
I also feel like there is way more room to make errors in 3
because you have to type everything unlike AS2 where i was able to
use the actions frame (use that plus tool that had the drop down
menu).

I'm in the same position, just starting to move from
intermediate comfort with AS2 to a fresh beginning with AS3...not
so easy for a guy who has so little logical thinking that I failed
algebra in high school! I too am a bit annoyed by all the extra
steps involved, such as having to add EventListeners for mouse
events, when these really ought to be simplified and there by
default, like in AS2. For example, why can't onMouseDown remain as
a built-in behavior rather than having to take up 2 lines of code
to insert it each and every time now?
On the other hand, I am delighted at the way a lot of the
inconsistencies in AS2 have been gotten rid of. No more having to
remember when to put .x and when ._x, and so on. And now that I'm
finally starting to learn how to use external classes, I see the
beauty in it, and AS3 is custom-made for this. It seems that if you
ever want to really advance in ActionScript programming, you need
to start working with creating your own classes, and as long as
you're going to learn those from scratch, may as well learn it in
AS3.
Putting AS on buttons was outdated practice years ago. It
makes much greater sense to place all script on the timeline, with
comments to separate it. Try programming the simplest game where
objects are moving around and colliding, all controlled by script,
and then a couple coded buttons control them. Bugs are inevitable,
and debugging script when it's partly on the timeline, some is
attached to main movie buttons, and some attached to movie clips
inside movie clips, is a nightmare. Once you do scripting on the
timeline, you'll never want to go back to the crude practice of
attaching script to objects.
Overall, it's a steeper climb than I'd have liked, to upgrade
my knowledge from AS2 to AS3. But ultimately I think it's the best
idea.

How to deside what to do (AS2 or AS3)

Hello
Guys
I am in vary great trouble, I just got job as a actionscript programmer.
I am Preety much comfourtable with AS3 but they ask me to do programme in AS2.
Is that good if i start study AS2 or it is better a AS3 job. (but in my country nepal, Getting AS3 is nearly impossible).
Is that good if i study my self AS3 and expand my knowledge or I start learning AS2.
Please Give me right direction. Its my Career problem
thanks

Well if you want to work with Flash in Nepal it would seem that you should learn AS2. Or try and convince your employer that the future is AS3 and lead the transition from the old ways to the new ways.
To use AS3 you will need to target the Flash 9 plug in or newer. And given the recent security breaches with Flash 9 I would think you would want to publish for 10.1
Of course that may not be possible that your clients in Nepal are ready and willing to make the leap. I don't know the penetration of Flash players in that part of the world, but if it is highly Flash 8 or earlier then AS2 would be a requirement.
Overall the future is AS3 and if you want to be ready for it you will need to continue learning AS3 even if your current bread and butter comes from AS2.

Convert AS2 To AS3

So I made this basic game a few years ago which was in AS2 and Flash 6. Now I want to convert this game from AS2 to AS3 but I have no idea where to start. The code is approximalty 4k lines long and I don't know what to change to make it work in AS3. What do you guys suggest?

Are you using external .as files and classes or are you using frame scripts directly in the timeline? Are you used to any other object oriented programming languages? Knowing more about other languages you might know would help a lot.
AS2 very informal and specialized to Flash. It relates to pretty much no other language out there, like JavaScript seldom relates. They're c-esque but only in a very distant 3rd cousin style.
AS3 is much more OOP oriented and typed versus the less formal, error-prone loose dynamic nature of AS2. While your game would benefit greatly from the speed increases and error reduction, I think you're really swinging for the fence on this one. While some classes may resemble their AS2 counterpart and the core global functions work the same, everything else is different. Starting off trying to convert 4,000 lines of code is a little steep.
As mentioned, the resources to learn AS3 are excessive and plentiful from video training to tutorials to the API reference itself. Google has it all.
I think you really should lower your target and just try some really simple, basic things. Draw a shape, add a listener, do something basic when clicked, etc. You'll get a good idea of how different things are with the new display list rather than tearing your hair out converting your as2 game.

Use this As2 in As3

Hello,
i have this code
var url = _level0.video;
player.contentPath = url;
this catch a url and load on flash player.
this works fine in As2, but in As3 dont work.
i use a converter As2 to As3 but the result is it:
package {
var url = _level0.video;
player.contentPath = url;
i not a As programmer i only use video function on flash,
my question is, how to use my code on ActionScript 3 ??
Thank you !!

Thanks for reply,
the variable video i get from html and php.
example:
player.swf?video=<?php echo $_GET["video"]; ?>
and the variable video i get from html
<a href="index.php?video=video.flv"></a>
ok, i discard a converter !!
to use a contentPatch source of flash ?
but i can load a external videos ??
without ActionScript ?
Thank you !

Issues converting scroll bar components from AS2 to AS3

I am working on editing a document that has scroll bar components that I would like to convert from AS2 to AS3 since everytime I try to open the document it shows a WARNING and won't convert them and when I publish and look at the final document the scroll bar seems to act unusally since it is obviously still on AS2.
Here are two of the scripts I finally was able to find within it. Should I fix it and how so? This first is for the "Creative Scroll Area" and the second is for the "Creative Scrollbar"
package {
          import flash.display.MovieClip;
          public class Creative Scroll Area extends MovieClip {
                    public function Creative Scroll Area() {
                              // constructor code
package {
          import flash.display.MovieClip;
          public class Creative Scrollbar extends MovieClip {
                    public function Creative Scrollbar() {
                              // constructor code

Okay, well I know the code is making a scroll bar and a scroll area and under the "type" it says they are "compiled..." which is unusual since most of the other components I've worked with have been movie clips or bitmaps. Do I need to look up what AS3 components I need to replace the script from above? Because when I looked for that I couldn't specifically find what I needed or really understood if I was looking at the right information.
Here is something I found when trying to "debug" it:
WARNING: The component 'UIScrollBar' requires ActionScript 2.0, which is not supported in this version of Flash Professional.
WARNING: The component 'Creative Scrollbar' requires ActionScript 2.0, which is not supported in this version of Flash Professional.
WARNING: The component 'Creative Scroll Area' requires ActionScript 2.0, which is not supported in this version of Flash Professional.

Can C++ Container Determine AS2 vs AS3

I have a C++ container of Flash Player 11 (I have also tried
Player 9 and Player 10). How can the container ask the player what
type of content it is playing (AS2 or AS3)?
If I create an event handler (ExternalInterface.addCallback)
in AS3 which returns true (depicting AS3), and call
m_FlashPlayer.CallFunction in my container, I am able to
receive/parse the ActionScript response ("<true/>").
However, if the content is "old" (i.e. AS2 which does not
have the necessary event handler) ... or if the content is AS3 and
I deliberately throw an exception (throw new Error("AS3 Error") in
my event handler) ... the C++ container has no way of
differentiating between AS2 or AS3. My container catches the
COleDispatchException, but there is no information within the
exception. Both scenarios result with an m_scError = 0x80004005
(E_FAIL).
Is there a prescribed way for a container to ask the
Shockwave player if it is playing AS2 or AS3 content?

You are confusing the Shockwave Player (which runs
Director-created
content) with the Flash Player

AS2 to AS3 Streaming Video Player

Ok so Im trying to convert a video play that i made in AS2 to
AS3 (I had a problem with nested movie clips and the control bar
and i want to learn AS3) and i am having troblem even connecting to
my rtmp server. With the player i made in AS2 i was able to connect
and stream video no problem. But with AS3 I am not even able to
connect to the rtmp server. Here is the AS2 code and the AS3 code:
AS3:
var video:Video = new Video(853,480);
addChild(video);
var nc:NetConnection = new NetConnection();
nc.connect("rtmp://[ip of server]/sumone4life/videos");
var ns:NetStream = new NetStream(nc);
ns.addEventListener(NetStatusEvent.NET_STATUS,
onStatusEvent);
function onStatusEvent(stat:Object):void
trace(stat.info.code);
var meta:Object = new Object();
meta.onMetaData = function(meta:Object)
trace(meta.duration);
video.attachNetStream(ns);
ns.play("AdobeBand_640");
And I get the error:
ArgumentError: Error #2126: NetConnection object must be
connected.
at flash.net::NetStream/construct()
at flash.net::NetStream()
at videoPlayer_fla::MainTimeline/frame1()
Error #2044: Unhandled AsyncErrorEvent:. text=Error #2095:
flash.net.NetConnection was unable to invoke callback onBWDone.
error=ReferenceError: Error #1069: Property onBWDone not found on
flash.net.NetConnection and there is no default value.
at videoPlayer_fla::MainTimeline/frame1()
Flash media server 3 Administrative Panel also shows that I
am infact connected to the server but there is nothing being
streamed from the server.
AS2 Works:
//Video Loading Controls
var fileName:String = "AdobeBand_640";
var nc:NetConnection = new NetConnection();
var ns:NetStream;
nc.onStatus = function(info){
trace(info.code);
if(info.code == "NetConnection.Connect.Success"){
playVideo();
function playVideo(){
ns = new NetStream(nc);
ns.onMetaData = onMetaDataHandler;
videoObject.attachVideo(ns);
_root.createEmptyMovieClip("vSound",
_root.getNextHighestDepth());
vSound.attachAudio(ns);
ns.setBufferTime(5);
ns.onStatus = function(info){
trace(info.code);
if(info.code == "NetStream.Buffer.Full"){
bufferClip._visible = false;
if(info.code == "NetStream.Buffer.Empty"){
bufferClip._visible = true;
if(info.code == "NetStream.Play.Stop"){
ns.seek(0);
ns.play(filename);
//connects the stream
nc.connect("rtmp://[ip of server]/sumone4life/videos");
Can anyone offer any insite as to why it would be workin in
AS2 and not in AS3? Or what i am doing wrong...

I have a similar problem. Did you get your to work?

Looking for a copy of Patrick Mineault's AS2 to AS3 converter.

Anybody have a copy of Patrick Mineault's AS2 to AS3 converter sitting around? His website closed down in May and he changed careers.
Thanks!

See if this is it:
http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Manuals/powerbooks/0301677CPBU G.PDF

Convert code AS2 to AS3

Plz any one convert this code from AS2 to AS3???????reoly me on [email protected]
#initclip
function Dot() {
    this.color = new Color(this);
    this.color.setRGB(16775372);
    this._rotation = 150;                        /////////////////rotate of object////////////////
    this._width = 30;                        /////////////////width of object////////////////
    this._height = 30;                            /////////////height of object//////////////
    this._x = 300+Math.random();//*8-0(X vibration type effect)            /////////////X position of object//////////
    this._y = 250+Math.random();//*8-0(Y vibration type effect)            /////////////Y posotion of object///////////
Dot.prototype = new MovieClip();
Object.registerClass("myfirst", Dot);
Dot.prototype.onEnterFrame = move;
function move() {
    this.age++;
    this.relage=this.age/12;
    R=255<<16;
    G=(255-(this.relage*126)); if (G<0) G=0; G=G<<8;
    B=(255-(this.relage*1024)); if (B<0) B=0;
    this.color.setRGB(R+G+B);
    this._x -= Math.random()*-2-1.25;
    this._y -=Math.random()*+1.75;
    this._alpha -= 3;
    this._xscale -= 2;
    if (this._alpha<5) {
        this.removeMovieClip();
#endinitclip

Just remove #initclip and #endinitclip from the code and remove all underscores, example : this._x will be this.x
Hope this helps!

HTML Link -AS2 fine, AS3 weird behaviour

Hi Guys, I'm working on a project at the moment, and am
seeing weird behaviour with the way my swf handles html links
inside dynamic textboxes. When rendered as a AS2 file, the link
works on a release as expected. When its inside a AS3 file the link
will only work if the user right click and chooses 'open in new
window' was there a change in behaviour how AS3 handles these
links, or is there now an declaration needed to be made to allow
these link to have the old behaviour?
The project calls for xml data and embedded in that is a html
link. Originally I thought it might have been the way I'd formed
the xml so I tried with a hardcoded version instead (dynamic
textbox, add text -> highlight -> add link through properties
tab). But I still see the same behaviour between the as2 and as3
versions.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.

Actually, the ''href'' attribute is supposed to direct the browser to a new URL, etc., not run a script. Instead, use the ''onclick'' event attribute:
''<a onclick = “$('.div-feedback').fadeIn();”></a>''.
Happy coding!

Declare new color from AS2 to AS3

Hi All,
Could you let me know how to "convert" the following code from AS2 to AS3:
var distracterBkgdColor = new Color(this.distracterBkgd_mc);
Thanks!

var ct:ColorTransform = this.distracterBkgd_mc.transform.colorTransform;ct.color = 0xrrbbgg;
this.distracterBkgd_mc.transform.colorTransform=ct;

ActionScript Newbie: Learn AS2 or AS3?

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