xiPreface 1
As ActionScript has evolved from a few statements in Flash to a full-fledged Internet
programming language in the latest release of Flash and Flex, we have the ability to
implement sophisticated designs developed for languages using object-oriented pro-
gramming (OOP). ActionScript 3.0 heralds a new era in Flash and Fle xprogram-
ming because it implements the ECMAScript standard for Internet languages. Many
features found in languages such as C++ and JavaTMare now available in Action-
Script 3.0.
Along with more sophisticated features in ActionScript 3.0 come more sophisticated
ways of programming andthinkingabout programming. Most readers of this book
will be familiar with OOP to some degree, and like the step from sequential or proce-
dural programming to OOP, the step to design pattern programming is a step up for
OOP programmers. We felt that because ActionScript 3.0 had arrived at a point
where more comple xand challenging programming structures can be developed,
Flash and Fle xprogrammers needed to understand programming techniques to cope
with these structures.
By understanding design pattern programming, you will be able to write better OOP
code, and reuse that code in other programs. The better paying positions in the pro-
gramming field favor those developers who can work with team development, and
the sophisticated structures that design patterns and OOP were developed to han-
dle. At the same time that you gain proficiency in programming more comple xappli-
cations, design patterns actually make programming easier. In large and complex
applications, programmers have the most difficulty with poor planning and awk-
ward design structures. Design patterns not only provide solutions for common chal-
lenges, but also focus on maintenance and change. The vocabulary of design patterns
is equally important because with it, you can become part of the developer commu-
nity that communicates clearly in the language of design patterns.