Archive for Actionscript 3
April 18, 2008 at 1:07 pm · Filed under Actionscript 2, Actionscript 3, Adobe, Books, Flash, Flex, Mobile Development, OSFlash, Personal
About a month ago Aral Balkan mentioned he wasn't finding the time to write a chapter on SWX for an upcoming Friends of Ed book, so I offered to step in to write the chapter for The Essential Guide to Open Source Flash Development on SWX for Flash and Flash Lite.
It is an honor to be a part of this book with such open source Flash community members as Chris Allen, John Grden, Wade Arnold, Carlos Ulloa, Moses Gunesch and others. You can read bios of all the authors on the book's bio page.
I am wrapping up the last round of review this weekend, and the book should be published and available in July. You can pre-order the book on Amazon.com today for about $31.
April 10, 2008 at 2:55 pm · Filed under Actionscript 3, Flash, Flex, OSFlash
As I had mentioned earlier, I attended the PaperVision3D training in Vegas a few weekends back and it was well worth giving up a whole weekend and making the trip to Vegas.
John Grden did an great job with the class and was really fluid in covering whatever we as a class asked him to. It turned out that we covered a lot more than I thought we would. 16 hours of training over two days is really intense, but if you have a chance to attend the upcoming Vancouver or Toronto classes, I highly suggest you do. I'll bet you can even find a 10% discount code on the PaperVision3D blog post announcing the two additional class dates.
Lastly, just like at conferences, the best times had were outside the classroom. With that in mind, I'll leave you with a group photo of Martin Lassen, myself, Jim Isaacs, John Olson, and John Grden drinking Octoberfest style (by the liter) at this awesome German-themed restaurant near the resort where the training was held.
Next time you see John Grden, ask him about the bonus that comes with a shot of Jagermeister for a good laugh.
April 8, 2008 at 3:25 pm · Filed under Actionscript 2, Actionscript 3, Adobe, Flash, Flex, Remoting
We knew this was coming for some time now and today Adobe finally released the 9.0.124 Flash Player which includes security updates that have an effect on any sites you may have built using AMFPHP, SWX, or any other Flash remoting services.
At issue is the crossdomain.xml file -- you'll need to add or update the file to ensure your services continue to function properly. Wade Arnold, a contributor to AMFPHP (which is also included with and used in SWX) has a great write-up on how to fix AMFPHP/SWX including a sample you can download and edit for your domain on his blog.
More details about the player, and the newly revamped Flash Player Download Center, can be found on Justin Everett-Church's blog posting about Flash Player 9.0.124. Adobe Developer Center has a helpful write-up about the exact changes made. Lastly, John Dowdell has an informative post with lots of helpful links.
Adobe has done a great job with communicating to the community that this change would be coming, and has provided a lot of resources to ensure sites were not affected. Today's information push is just another example of the great communication. Kudos, Flash Player team!
March 26, 2008 at 9:53 am · Filed under Actionscript 3, Flash, OSFlash
The Rich Media Institute is having official PaperVision3D training in Las Vegas this weekend (March 29/30) led by John Grden. Sometimes I feel as if I am the only Flash developer left without much PaperVision3D experience, so you can see why I'm so excited to be attending.
It looks like they still have some seats left, so if you have been thinking about going, come check it out. John has even posted a discount code for 10% off on the PaperVision3D blog and also wrote about what the course will be covering and how all Flash types (designer and developer) will benefit from the class.
15 hours of training in two days is going to be intense (and awesome), but hopefully the short taxi ride to the Vegas strip will provide a nice break in the evenings. If you also plan on attending, be sure to say hello!
January 25, 2008 at 11:14 pm · Filed under Actionscript 3, Flash, OSFlash
I have been using the open source BulkLoader AS3 classes since I read about it a few months back on the developer Arthur Debert's blog. When I first used the classes in FDT, the editor shows that the classes have errors in BulkLoader.as and LoadingItem.as. However, the project would still compile without issue so I just kept on coding, ignoring the little "x" as I finished the project. The issue is even marked as "WontFix" in the project's issue database on Google Code.
I am setting up a new project in which I intend to use BulkLoader once again -- and this time I'd prefer not to have FDT barking at me about code which I know compiles correctly, even in strict mode. So, I spent a few minutes and dug up how to fix the issues so that FDT quits complaining. Hopefully this saves someone else the time, and allows you to know your code is really error-free at a glance.
The issue has a proposed fix in the Google Code issue database, but *warning* you'll want to stay away from it, as the fix partially leads to more issues. The correct fix is actually found deep in FDT's forums, the gist of which is:
First, on lines 201-207 of LoadingItem.as remove all of the quotation marks and add a semi-colon at the end of the object definition. These lines should now read:
private static var classes : Object= {
loader: Loader,
xml: URLLoader,
video:NetConnection,
sound: Sound,
text: URLLoader
};
Second, change line 958 of BulkLoader.as to:
var res : * = item.content as type;
Note that the line numbers are for revision 107 : 0.9.4.1 and may change in future revisions.
January 23, 2008 at 3:14 pm · Filed under Actionscript 2, Actionscript 3, Flash, Flex
O'Reilly's Inside RIA site is off to a great start with a new article by Colin Moock, author of Essential ActionScript 3.0. In the article Colin attempts to answer the question: ActionScript 3.0: Is It Hard or Not?
I highly suggest reading the lengthy article, the gist of which is:
The most common laments I hear about ActionScript 3.0 are, "It’s too complicated," "It’s harder to learn/understand," and "It takes a lot more code to do things." Yet, rarely have I seen these complaints backed up by more than one or two examples. So let’s do some thorough investigation to see if ActionScript 3.0 really is as hard as people seem to think it is.
Like the users Colin speaks of, I have also often felt that using AS3 can result in more code than using AS2. While in most cases the additional code results in a more structured and OOP-sound project, that structure is not always necessary. I also felt that it was more complicated than AS2 once I started using AS3, but I have never heard anyone deny that there is a ramp-up period, even for the most skilled developers.
As more and more developers make the switch and as more clients require their projects be developed in AS3, most of us developers will no longer have the choice. This is the main reason I chose to make a concerted effort to learn AS3 and start using it in projects -- I didn't want to get blindsided with an AS3 project and all of the sudden need to spend most of the project schedule learning AS3. It should also be noted that just about every developer who I speak to about AS3 says they haven't looked back since transitioning to AS3.
I think for designer-types the situation is a bit different, however. For instance, I have lost count of the number of times I have been asked the question, "Should I switch to AS3?" by designers who are used to coding on the timeline. These designers can make their way around a Flash file with AS2, alter code they find on the internet, and have a functional project. In these cases, yes, AS3 seems like it is "too complicated" and "harder to learn/understand". AS3 is now a fully OOP language and without the base knowledge of OOP, one would be lost quickly. While these concepts can be learned, each person needs to decide if they would benefit from doing so. The general Flash concepts from AS2 have not changed in AS3 -- gotoAndPlay() and the like are still available. Loops, conditionals, and timeline functions all still work pretty much the same, so your base of reference for AS3 isn't too far off.
My take? Start using AS3 immediately. As a developer-type you'll be forced to learn it eventually, and you might as well start getting cozy now. If you are more of a designer-type you can still code on the timeline using AS3 if you prefer to do so, and by following some simple timeline coding concepts you could take your code to external class files once you feel comfortable doing so.
However, the big issue here is not one of just developer-types vs designer-types. No, it is that group in the middle that was starting to grow significantly due to Flash: the "designveloper" - those who have a great sense of design and the development know-how to make their visions a reality. Samuel Agesilas and his Saffron AIR application is a great example of this - a complex application that looks beautiful. I have also seen several speakers at conferences last year actually call themselves something along these lines. This group is now starting to shrink rapidly because of the additional OOP knowledge that is required with AS3, the perceptions of AS3 being "too complicated" and "harder to learn/understand", or just plain unwillingness to take the time needed to learn the new language. This is not to say it cannot and will not start to grow again once the Flash community becomes more comfortable with AS3, but that may take some time to happen. In the meantime, I'm doing as much as I can to stay a "designveloper" because I enjoy both the design and development. But, even with that mindful effort I have seen myself leaning more and more to the development side as I continue to program in AS3...
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