ActionScript

The ActionScript programming language is a product of the Adobe software company and supports the use of Adobe Flash, Adobe Air, and Adobe Flex products. ActionScript was originally a product of Macromedia, which was acquired by Adobe. In general, ActionScript can be used for the interactive implementation of Flash applications - thus, ActionScript can be used to create Rich Internet Applications( RIA).

With the object-oriented version 3.0, however, the use is also aimed at applications in desktop environments. ActionScript is developed in the Adobe Flash integrated development environment. For the execution of ActionScript an appropriate runtime environment is needed, which is however almost already completely available in the area of the web browsers. ActionScript is platform independent. Alternatives for the development of Rich Internet Applications are for example JavaFX from SUN and Silverlight from Microsoft. In the OpenSource area Ming and OpenLaslo are to be mentioned.

The basic idea of ActionScript

The basic idea behind ActionScript was to create a simple and easy-to-learn scripting language that even an inexperienced user could use to make his website interactive without having to have a close connection to programming. After all, for some time now all major web browsers have been equipped with the Flashplayer plug-in, which is necessary for programming with Actionscript and displaying it.

This trend is also supported by the strong connection of ActionScript to JavaScript, which provides similar language tools. In addition, ActionScript is based on the unified ECMA (European Computer Manufactures Association)-262 standard. However, as ActionScript continued to evolve, the influence of the Java programming language, which is also very popular, became more apparent in the ActionScript language concept. Supported by its similarities to JavaScript and Java, the ActionScript programming language is now well positioned in developer circles. Ultimately, the concept of ActionScript is designed to realize a seamless connection between the designer of web applications and the developer who implements the logical programming. In this respect, ActionScript is quite comparable to JavaFX from Sun or Silverlight from Microsoft.

Advanced language base of ActionScript

When Macromedia Flash MX was introduced in 2004, the language base of version 1.0 was expanded to include version 2.0, which has many more features. This was a necessary step because version 1.0 could only implement event-driven interactions. Version 2.0 created an object-oriented programming language( OOP) that already supported data encapsulation, classes and inheritance, among other concepts of object orientation. In addition, variable data typing, function parameters, and replay types were introduced, among others. The language base was supplemented by language elements such as class, interface, extends, static, public, private, which thereby suggest the connection to Java.

The version 3.0 came then with further innovations on the market:

• Strict typing,
• Processing of events with Event Listener,
• Extension of the data types by int(integers) as well as unit (positive integers),
• Extended debugging possibilities,
• Regular expressions and
• variables are part of a class as properties.

Another - very user-friendly - feature of ActionScript 3.0 is the support of the ECMA-357 standard - ECMAScript for XML or E4X for short. This means that ActionScript now has its own XML data type, which makes it much easier to access XML files directly. A standardized DOM event model also schematizes the use of ActionScript.

ActionScript 3.0 and the ActionScript Virtual Machine (AVM) in Flash Player 9 introduced a completely reimplemented AVM. It features a just-in-timecompiler that translates ActionScript code into native - and very effective - intermediate code. Furthermore, there is a better memory management, the report of runtime errors and a more optimal startup process.

Thus, with the help of its various stages of development, ActionScript has become a high-quality programming language. A wide variety of Flash applications can be created - from simple interactive interfaces to data-intensive algorithms.