Creating arrays The Array constructor function can be used in three ways. First, if you call the constructor with no arguments, you get an empty array. You can use the length property of the Array class to verify that the array has no elements. For example, the following code calls the Array constructor with no arguments: var names:Array = new Array(); trace(names.length); // output: 0 Second, if you use a number as the only parameter to the Array constructor, an array of that length is created, with each element’s value set to undefined. The argument must be an unsigned integer between the values 0 and 4,294,967,295. For example, the following code calls the Array constructor with a single numeric argument: var names:Array = new Array(3); trace(names.length); // output: 3 trace(names[0]); // output: undefined trace(names[1]); // output: undefined trace(names[2]); // output: undefined

Any Flash developer who has worked on RIAs (Rich Internet Applications) that needed to interact with PHP knows that this isn’t a simple process at all. Although AMFPHP has been around for quite a while, I will start with a simple introduction and then build from there in coming articles.

One of the biggest changes in ActionScript 3.0 is the way Flash renders (or rather manages rendering of) visual assets. Previously, you'd had to attachMovie() from the library, createEmptyMovieClip() or createTextField(). But all of these were methods of existing movie clips.

With user experience expectations on the rise, developers increasingly are looking for ways to bring the rich experience of a desktop application to the web.

There are many differences between ActionScript 2.0 and ActionScript 3.0. This article focuses on the changes in the display API. In this article, I provide two very simple Adobe Flash files, one written in ActionScript 2.0 and the other written in ActionScript 3.0. Though these applications are very simple, you can use them to learn the basics of how the display API works in ActionScript 3.0. The article covers only the basics of the display API. If you need more information about it, please refer to the sources mentioned at the end of the article.

When you create a Flash Media Server 2 application, you typically place emphasis on optimizing the quality of the communications. That is certainly as it should be. Likewise, quality object-oriented programming (OOP) is another priority. One standard in OOP is design patterns—abstract concepts for solving recurring problems using designs that optimize OOP when you apply them appropriately.

ActionScript 3.0 is a powerful, object-oriented programming language that signifies an important step in the evolution of the capabilities of the Flash Player runtime. The motivation driving ActionScript 3.0 is to create a language ideally suited for rapidly building rich Internet applications, which have become an essential part of the web experience.

ActionScript 3.0 has replaced the LoadVars class with URLLoader and URLVariables classes. The URLLoader class downloads data from a URL as text, binary data, or URL-encoded variables. The URLLoader class is useful for downloading text files, XML, or other information to use in dynamic, data-driven ActionScript applications. The URLLoader class takes advantage of the ActionScript 3.0 advanced event handling model, which allows you to listen for such events as complete, httpStatus, ioError, open, progress, and securityError.

 The Date class boasts one of the most versatile constructor methods of all the core classes. You can invoke it four different ways. First, if given no parameters, the Date() constructor returns a Date object containing the current date and time, in local time based on your time zone. Here’s an example: var now:Date = new Date();

I’ve suggested that ActionScript is perhaps not going to be as difficult and baffling as it might seem at first. I’ve even shown you a sample ActionScript statement that reads pretty much just like plain English.