

The Charges Against ActionScript 3.0 - DocSavage
http://www.insideria.com/2008/07/the-charges-against-actionscri.html

======
fatjonny
I work with ActionScript 3.0 on a daily basis. This article does a good job of
summarizing some of the things that are wrong with the language and that I
have run into. The advice on how to try and fix what is wrong was useful.
Flash is the most widely adopted
([http://www.adobe.com/products/player_census/flashplayer/vers...](http://www.adobe.com/products/player_census/flashplayer/version_penetration.html))
way of presenting complex interactivity in a browser. For those trying to
reach the widest audience possible for casual games it is the best choice.
With the release of the flex compiler it is possible to create Flash content
without having to buy the Flash IDE and FlashDevelop
(<http://www.flashdevelop.org/>) provides a good alternative IDE.

~~~
allenbrunson
I need to do a tiny bit of flash development for a larger project that's
mostly _not_ flash. Would you be willing to answer a couple of questions that
I can't find definitive answers for? I'd really appreciate it.

I would have emailed you, but I don't see an address in your profile. If
you've filled in your email address, well, that field isn't visible to anybody
but pg and the editors. You have to put it in the "about" field for everybody
to see it.

~~~
fatjonny
I can try. I'll send you an email.

------
sratner
With the exception of stricter typing, these are problems of the new Flash
runtime, not AS3 (even the ones labeled as AS3). As a language, AS3 is far
superior to its predecessors, but because of its simultaneous release with the
new runtime the blame is often misplaced.

As far as missing runtime features go, most of the points are very valid. Top
of my list: sandboxing of external content and cloning movie clips (which
would presumably be implemented in a cheaper way than just creating multiple
instances).

------
jetako
I admit to only reading part of the article, but it seems like the author just
wants a media scripting language, not a "programming" language, which AS3 has
become. The sandboxing and unloading are legitimate issues, but have nothing
to do with the language.

I wouldn't necessarily be against a wholly different language for use in the
timeline, as I prefer not to put code there anyway, assuming I have to use
those ugly Movieclips at all. I could see something terse and elegant,
eschewing the AS2 prototype nastiness, being useful for animators and light
programmers alike. I think the biggest barrier for most is the new event
model. Adding listeners is a bit verbose for those used to simply overriding
an on() method.

------
whordeley
AS3 is a mess in that it tries to be everything to everyone. I would prefer
plain old fashioned javascript, like that in my browser right now to the AS3
mess. It's bolted-on Java-esq OO features are clearly just that. Hopefully AS3
dies along with Adobe's inevitably doomed RIA effort.

~~~
jetako
Amazing. AS3 is messier than javascript? Are you huffing ether? Absolutely
none of the OO features are "bolted-on". You must be talking about AS2, for
which this would be a legitimate argument. BTW, AS3 is a well-conformed
implementation of the ECMA4 standard, which is, wait for it, the javascript 2
spec! Welcome to the present.

~~~
whordeley
AS2 and 3 aren't much different in how their OO features are implemented. So
to suggest that AS2's features are bolted on and AS3's aren't doesn't make
much sense logically. Actually you've sort of implied that i am correct if you
think about it. And why is it that AS3 conforming to the ECMA4 standard
somehow gives it immunity to sucking?

~~~
jetako
Gotta differ with you on the OO point. There are quite a few fundamental
differences, both in terms of low-level implementation and common usage. AS3
has true class-based object definition, packages and namespaces, for example.
AS2's class support is merely an obfuscation of its underlying prototype
system, whereas AS3 features real class objects, and prototypes exist only as
an alternative inheritance mechanism.

I'm curious what it is about AS3 OO that you perceive as bolted on. Seems
pretty well rooted to me. Btw apologies for my brash tone before, that was a
bit dickish.

