Coding Well Forum

there seems to be nothin' on the net about it (atleast for beginners) so it think that we should help a poster in need. i am hook'n myself up with Flash 9 (just to 'demo' it u know...) so i should be able to say a few things pretty soon. first thing i'll say though is this ain't your papa's actionscript.

let's just say it is difficult.
for some reason adobe thought it would be great if AS was a real programing language instead of a scripting language.
some of the basics i know are, it is partially interperited and extreamly dynamic.
it uses byte code (like java), extreamly object oreinted, more low level of control than previous versions,
XML can be injected, it uses a new VM for AS3 only, it is ~12X faster than AS2. it supports REGULAR EXPRESIONS (yatta) thats RegEx for some of you, run time exceptions too YAY(you mean it will tell me i have a problem?!),
all in all it looks powerful but is radicaly different to the point that i don't know how to start... so be back soon ish,

ok variables. weird
to declare a variable you go
var VarName:primitiveDataType;

you can also set the value when creating it by going
var VarName:DataType = 20;

when you create anything (ie movie clips) a variable of that instances name is created, so modifing that var will modify the movie clip (ie change it's X or y posision based on time or if you push a button or anything)

here is a list of data types that are common
String: a group of letters like a name or word or paragraph
Numeric: ActionScript 3.0 includes three specific data types for numeric data:
Number: any numeric value, including values with or without a fraction
int: an integer (a whole number without a fraction)
uint: an "unsigned" integer, meaning a whole number that can't be negative
Boolean: a true-or-false value, such as whether a switch is on or whether two values are equal
MovieClip: a movie clip symbol
TextField: a dynamic or input text field
SimpleButton: a button symbol
Date: information about a single moment in time (a date and time)

you can also create your own.... but that's another episode.

so there is a start... i can't actually do anything yet so stay tuned.

Now do you see why I thought it was weird?

Is AC2 easyer to learn? Should I just mess around with that?

the main reason i am having trouble is that i am used to in AS going to a key frame and seting an event to happen there but i have no idea how to do that. but AS 2 is far simpler so ya i guess you should start there... but you'll prolly just have to forget everything you learn to learn AS3 so i dunno. there is a built in help you know it is under help... (press F1 it should be the second little book...thing) but ya... i'm still learning stuff so g'bye

GAME-WINNING HOME-RUN!
ok so you know how i said i am sed to the putting AS in a key frame and i could find no way of doing that well, i found out how.
so in your flash doc you (typicly) create a layer just for action called ACTION (this isn't necicary but most people do it) then crate a key frame that you want action on. then on the lower table on the right side there is a small little button shaped like an arrow pointing up and right clik it, and you gotz your interface. you can easily program what you want to do with the point and click to add command interface or you can learn the commands and type them yourself. i was able to make a preloader pretty quick after finding that.