Object-Oriented ActionScript 3.0

by Peter Elst, Sas Jacobs

Overview

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is something that is usually considered a black art for hardcore programmers, not a topic of conversation for Flash developers. However, when adobe introduced ActionScript 3.0 to the mix, it changed everything. ActionScript 3.0 is much more powerful than previous versions, allowing Flash developers to produce robust object-oriented applications. But with that power comes great responsibility—OOP is now a requirement, rather than optional, and there are new things to learn.

This book, based on the ever-popular Object-Oriented ActionScript for Flash 8, provides you all you need to delve into the world of OOP with confidence, whether you are using the Flash IDE, Flex builder, or even command-line tools for your development work.

First, you are taken gently through all the principles of OOP that you need to know, and then given a guide to designing and implementing applications in ActionScript 3.0. Next, we step up a gear, showing you the Flex builder development environment and teaching about creating reusable, extensible component frameworks, manager classes, animation and effects classes, UI widgets, and more. lastly, we look at some more advanced topics such as communication between Flash and the browser and Web services. case studies are included that apply the knowledge presented, giving you real-world projects to learn from and adapt for use in your own work.

Mastering object-oriented programming is essential for modern Flash development, and Object-Oriented ActionScript 3.0 is the only guide you'll need.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781590598450
Publisher:	Apress
Publication date:	07/24/2007
Series:	Friends of ED Adobe Learning Library
Edition description:	1st ed.
Pages:	640
Product dimensions:	7.52(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.05(d)

About the Author

Peter Elst is a Belgian freelance IT consultant and founding partner of Project Cocoon based in Pondicherry, south India. As a respected member of the online community, Peter has spoken at various international industry events and has had his work published in leading journals.

Table of Contents

Part I: OOP and Actionscript.- Introduction to OOP.- Programming Concepts.- ActionScript 3 Programming (update to AS3); Part II: Flash OOP Guidelines.- Planning.- Project Workflow.- Best Practices.- Working with Eclipse (new chapter, tips and tricks of coding in Eclipse); Part III. Core OOP Concepts.- Encapsulation.- Classes.- Inheritance.- Polymorphism.- Interfaces.- Design Patterns (update to include State pattern, etc.).- Case Study; Part IV: Building and Extending A Dynamic Framework.- Framework Overview.- Manager Classes (make more generic, creating framework base classes).- UI Widgets (more generic, extending the framework base classes).- OOP Animation and Effects (update to AS3).- Part V: Data Integration.- Interrelationships and Interactions Between Components (propose name change to "Exchanging data between components").- Communication Between Flash and the Browser (update to include Flash/Ajax integration).- Server Communication (XML and Web Services) (update to include E4X).- Case Study: Time Sheet Application (new case study).